


All Our Children

by WishPorter



Series: All Our Children [1]
Category: Young Justice - All Media Types
Genre: Batman is such a Dad, Black Canary is a female influence, Bonding Momemts, Bonding over Children, F/M, Green Arrow is a bad mentor, Mentor Black Canary, Superboy is precious, Superman is a bad mentor, but nobody knows
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-09-23
Updated: 2016-09-23
Packaged: 2018-08-16 20:23:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 29,959
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8116273
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WishPorter/pseuds/WishPorter
Summary: Black Canary hadn't expected to be offered a position in a new team by Batman. She hadn't expected to care so deeply about her new charges. She hadn't expected to be a mentor. She hadn't expected she'd bond with the Batman over teenagers. 
It all started on July 4th, 2010 with nine words.
"Get on board or get out of the way."





	

**Author's Note:**

> I felt like the Team should have had an actual Team mentor, not just their individual mentors. Red Tornado is all well and good but he’s a robot, and human customs still elude him. I thought the Team may need more guidance and structure than Tornado can offer. That’s how this was started. I meant to write something short focused around Failsafe. I honestly don’t know what happened.
> 
> Black Canary is a mixture of many Canaries. A mixture of the two Arrow Canaries, Young Justice Canaries, and elements from the original comics.
> 
> Batman is Batman. I imagine him softer before he lost a Robin. Almost like Oliver in seasons two and three of Arrow. But better because he’s Batman.
> 
> Note: The second split scene during November 24 is a detailed sex talk that is more explicit than what I got in junior high but less disturbing than the video of a human birth that I had to watch in grade 10. Most teens know most of those things but feel free to skip it.

 

**Mount Justice, July 5, 2010**

Dinah looked around the mountain and couldn’t help but feel nostalgic. This had been the Justice League’s base of operations before the location had been leaked. She approved of Batman’s decision to make Mount Justice the base of the Team. Maybe they’d have to get a new one years down the road, when they had more members, but for now it was adequate. They were “hiding in plain sight”, as Flash had explained to Wally.

She looked at the monitor of the computer anxiously. Batman had requested her presence for an unknown reason. One does not question the Batman.

“Black Canary.” She spun, not surprised that he was able to sneak up on her. He was, after all, the Dark Knight. At home in the darkness, able to move without a sound. He surprised enemies and allies alike. A move he’d taught his young sidekick, Robin.

“Batman.” She turned to look back up at the screen in front of her and the faces on it. She felt more than heard the intimidating man come up beside her. Sure enough, a glance to the side revealed the large form of the Caped Crusader.

“What is your opinion of the Team?”

She was surprised that he asked for her input. “They’re a new team.” Once again, she gazed up at the pictures. “Robin is obviously the most experienced of the four,” the picture was of an action shot of the mischievously grinning young teen in mid-leap. Not for the first time, the blonde wondered how Batman got a hold of these pictures. “He’s been with you for years. That’s as much a curse as it is a blessing. He’ll expect the mutual understanding he has with you. He’ll also expect a natural leadership role like yours. He has all of the qualities of a leader, except the maturity. He’s not ready, and won’t be ready until he learns to work with others as a team.”

Batman watched her silently.

“Kid Flash is could be considered a clone of a younger Barry,” she continued. “He’s light-hearted, brash, impatient, with a need to be included in missions. Albeit, Barry wants to be there to help, and Wally just wants to fight and prove himself. I sincerely hope he grows out of that. That aside, he’s not a leader, and he’s loyal to his friends. He’ll be good for the Team.” The picture featured Wally with a mouth full of food, like usual.

The man crossed his arms, which was even more unnerving when paired with his impassive stare.

“Kaldur’ahm is the natural choice for a leader at the moment. He’s calm, cool, and collected, he grew up in Arthur’s court so he understands politics and leadership, and he communicates. I admit that I am no expert in Atlantean customs or ways of fighting, but it is my opinion that he relies too heavily on his hard water constructs. Which is a little worrying. I realize that Aquaman’s wife does something similar but he does not yet have her skill. He needs work but he’s my first choice for the leadership of this Team.” Kaldur looked calm in his picture.

A nod.

She smiled. “I’m not sure what to think of Superman’s clone. They’re calling him Superboy, I believe. He’s strong and brave, but he doesn’t seem to think before he charges into action. He doesn’t respect us, but he doesn’t know us either. He’s angry, which I’m sure is Clark’s fault. I saw his face when he stepped up to Clark and showed him his crest. All that boy wanted was a little acknowledgement and he got cold dismissal. That boy needs the guidance and companionship of friends, and he needs a mentor. He needs the Team more than it needs him.” Superboy’s picture looked like it was taken inside Cadmus, when he was in his pod. How _did_ he get those pictures?

Batman looked up at the pictures too. “Anything else?”

She thought for a moment, and then frowned when something occurred to her. “Yes. When… When Roy left, he left them without a defenseman.” She’d been close to Roy and it hurt her when he left so abruptly. She hadn’t known he’d been so angry and wished he’d talked to her about it. “Superboy is an obvious heavy-hitter, Kaldur too. Robin is very capable of covert-ops and stealth, but you know as well as I that he’s been trained to take down opponents in center field, and he’ll want to do that. If he uses his stealth, it will be to gather intelligence for the mission or to enable him to become a heavy-hitter, not unlike yourself. Kid Flash has the skillset but his temperament doesn’t allow him to be a line of defense. He won’t want to stand on the sidelines. Also, he’s useful for shock value and confusion on the field.” She looked up at one of the founders of the Justice League and the most intimidating man she knew. “The Team needs more members.”

Batman nodded again. “Adequate analysis. I’d like to extend you an offer.”

Surprise flooded her. “An offer?”

He began typing. Windows and code were popping up all over the place. She didn’t even pretend to know what he was doing. What she knew about computers was what Felicity had told her. “This will be my Team. An extension of the Justice League for covert missions only. I will be its commander and Red Tornado will live here to both supervise and learn more about daily human life. I would like you to be the martial arts instructor.” He glanced at her for a moment. When he spoke, she could tell that he was letting her hear the amusement in his voice. “Don’t look so surprised; there’s been talk that you could outfight me. They all need to learn how to fight, except Robin, who needs to learn how to fight with others. In addition to being their instructor you’d be a mentor of sorts; someone to go to with problems. You are the only person in the League with a psychology degree so I know you’re qualified. Also, if you are willing, their female influence. Only Kid Flash has any women in his life on a daily basis.” He looked at her seriously. “I will give you two days to consider my offer. You can reach me through the communicator when you have an answer.” With that, he turned and swept out of the cave, cape billowing soundlessly behind him.

She watched him leave blankly, and continued staring into space even after the computer announced his departure. Batman wanted her to train his Team. He trusted her enough to allow her to train them. Not only that, he wanted her to act as their mentor and a female influence. Batman must respect her opinion and way of living more than she’d thought possible.

* * *

**Mount Justice, July 8, 2010**

Three days later she was once again stood in the main room of Mount Justice, listening to Batman. “This cave was the original secret sanctuary of the Justice League. We’re calling it into service again. Since you four are determined to stay together and fight the good fight, you’ll do it on League terms.” He stopped his pacing to glare at the teenagers. “Red Tornado volunteered to live here and be your supervisor. Black Canary’s in charge of training. I will deploy you on missions.”

“Real missions?” Anyone could hear the disbelief in Robin’s voice.

“Yes, but covert.”

Flash spoke up from behind Wally. “The League will still handle the obvious stuff. There’s a reason we have these big targets on our chests.” He pointed to his Flash emblem.

Aquaman was the next one of them to speak up. “But Cadmus proves the bad guys are getting smarter. Batman needs a team that can operate on the sly.” He looked to the mentioned man.

Batman looked at his new responsibility. “The five of you will be that team.”

“Cool!” Robin spotted an apparent flaw in his mentor’s reasoning. “Wait, five?”

The Dark Knight nodded to the entrance of the room. The Martian Manhunter was walking in with what looked like a teenaged Martian girl. “This is the Martian Manhunter’s niece, Miss Martian.”

The cute redheaded girl waved. “Hi.”

Black Canary frowned at Wally’s comment and observed the rest of the teens. Robin was grinning at his friend. Superboy was frowning at the new arrival. Aqualad looked to be sizing her up, professionally.

The boys introduced themselves and went to meet the girl.

Black Canary sighed as soon as Miss Martian changed the appearance of her shirt to match Superboy’s and made him smile. The Martian was the first girl on a team of boys, pretty, and didn’t seem to be tough enough for crime fighting. She could see this becoming a mess of sexual tension and heartbreak. And the girl would no doubt come to her for advice. What had she agreed to?

* * *

**Mount Justice, July 18, 2010**

It was ten days later – just after midnight – when she had her first ‘mentor’ experience. Robin, Wally, and Aqualad stopped by her office after reporting to Batman. The three boys came back from a mission, since the newest two weren’t cleared for missions yet, with the report that they’d offered Speedy a place on the Team and he’d rejected the offer. Not only that, he’d said some pretty harsh things to his supposed best friends.

Robin looked at her through his mask, “He said he was done taking orders from Green Arrow and the League. He called the Cave a clubhouse and he called us kids. He said the Team was a joke, a way to keep us in our place.” He looked away and she could tell he was hurt. She didn’t blame him, she’d seen the ‘original’ four sidekicks interact and Roy had always treated the younger teens as equals and only called them kids in jest.

Wally spoke up, “He was willing to fight with us and heard us out, but as soon as the Team was mentioned, his walls went up.” The usually carefree teenager sounded close to tears.

Aqualad nodded. “I, too, am confused. We all knew Speedy before the Team. We’ve worked with him, we’re friends. He’s never been this angry.”

Black Canary rubbed her forehead with a sigh. “No, he was angry. He was always angry. I taught him to channel his anger into his fights until that was the only place he showed true anger. It was before you knew him. There was an incident not long after he became Green Arrow’s sidekick, there were some major issues that I helped him fix once I found out about it. I thought he was over it.” She looked at the teenage boys concerned for their friend. “I’ll talk to Green Arrow about it.”

Wally smiled at her. “Thanks, BC. If you see Speedy before we do, let him know we’re worried about him?”

She waited for them to leave before she called Oliver.

“Hey Darlin!”

She frowned at the masked face on the screen. “This isn’t a social call, Hood.” She watched him flinch. She’d purposely used the name he’d been known as when he was considered a criminal. “Have you talked to Roy since he left?”

The man shuffled around and looked away. “I’m giving him some space.”

She shook her head with a tired sigh. “Roy is not you, Oliver. Roy needs guidance, not space. To make things worse, he’s angrier than he’s been in years.”

Green Arrow coughed. “Listen, I don’t think it’s a good idea to talk to him right now. And even if it was…I don’t know where he is.”

She could only glare. “Seriously? Do you or do you not know one of the best hackers in the world? Get Felicity on it and find. Him. Now.” She hung up on him. Sometimes, she questioned her decision to date a man with so many issues. The man had trained and fought beside Roy for years but still tiptoed around him as if the teen was a minefield. Honestly.

She sighed as she remembered the young pickpocket running around Star City. She and Oliver’s sister had pulled him out of that life. They’d helped him, changed him for the better. Then he got involved with Oliver. Oliver had let him tag along on patrol until Roy took it upon himself to lend a hand. What had happened?

* * *

**Metropolis, August 3, 2010**

He glanced sharply out the window of his office as he heard the squealing tires and the crashes. The bus threatening to go over the side of the bridge was all it took to get him up. He immediately moved to press the button concealed under the head of the bust of Alfred that was on his desk. The top left drawer of his desk slid open to reveal the Batsuit. He turned when he heard the sonic boom. Superman could surely handle this.

The Man of Steel flew under the bridge to repair the damage to the foundations before he rescued anybody. Even at this distance, Bruce could see the glow of his heat vision.

A rapidly moving being was headed toward the bridge. He relaxed as he identified Superboy through his binoculars. No need to go down there, he’d just see how it played out. He winced at the crater caused by the clone’s landing. Clark would have to teach the boy how to soften his landings with flight.

His lips quirked in approval as Superboy’s prime concern was rescuing innocents from immediate danger. He picked up a car and moved it away from the edge, then ran over to where the bus full of children was beginning to slip. He struggled with it for a moment but swiftly recovered and began hauling the bus back onto the bridge. He saw the boy’s surprised face and then his scowl as the bus was taken from him. Bruce scowled as well. Why would Superman do that? He took the bus like a parent would take something from a child. His actions implied disapproval that Superboy was rescuing people. That sort of behavior should be rewarded. Why couldn’t Superman just acknowledge his clone?

He saw the two begin arguing and brought up his binoculars to read their lips.

“-could have destabilized the entire bridge.”

“It didn’t.”

“But it could have. We don’t yet know the limits of your powers.”

He saw the hope on Superboy’s face. “Well maybe you could, you know, help me figure that out?”

Superman looked away and then he closed off. “Batman’s got that covered.”

“I know but-“ The man’s com chiming interrupted him.

“Superman. Wait, Arrow, slow down. What’s attacking? No, I’m definitely available. Coordinates. Acknowledged. On my way.” It wasn’t even a private message, it had been on the League channel; Batman had heard it too. Superman turned to his clone. “Sorry Super…boy. Duty calls.”

With that he was off.

Bruce saw the disappointment and anger on Superboy’s face. He scowled as he called the Boy Scout on his com. This time on a private channel.

“Already got the alert, Bruce.”

“I know, Clark, but we need to talk.” He’d try his best to get Clark to accept the boy. Nobody deserved to get repeatedly rejected just for existing.

And if Clark refused, he’d mentor the boy himself.

* * *

**Mount Justice, August 3, 2010**

“Ready for training everyone?”

“Black Canary! Uncle J’onn!”

She was greeted with M’gann’s delighted shout as she walked in. The young Martian girl ran to the Martian Manhunter and hugged him. The man expressed concern for her and she reassured him that she was fine.

Black Canary was focused on Superboy. He stood behind the others scowling and turned to walk away. She’d heard what happened from Batman. She, too, felt for the boy. She called to him, “Stick around. Class is in session.”

He turned and crossed his arms with a scowl. Now that was pure Batman.

A few minutes later, she was activating the floor of the training room. “I consider it an honor to be your teacher. I’ll throw a lot at you; everything I’ve learned from my own mentors.” She shrugged off her jacket and grimaced at the pain in her arm. “And my own bruises.”

“What happened?” M’gann sounded too innocent. Too soft.

“The job.” She threw the jacket aside. “Now, combat is about controlling conflict, putting the battle on your terms. You should always be acting, never reacting.” She tilted her head and changed her tone from teacher to lover. “I’ll need a sparring partner.” She was sure to get one of the boys.

“Right here!” Wally’s hand shot into the air. “Yeah.” He stepped out to meet her, while eating a banana. How rude of him to not even give her his full attention. “After this, whoosh,” He threw the peel in the trash. “I’ll show you my moves.”

She smiled and had him on the floor in less than a second.

He groaned. “Hurts so good.”

“Good block, but did anyone see what he did wrong?” She helped him up.

“Ooh, ohh, he hit on teacher and got served?” Robin’s grin was infectious and she suppressed a grin of her own.

“Dude!?”

“He allowed me to dictate the terms of-“

“Oh, please.”

She tilted her head in Superboy’s direction and arched an eyebrow.

“With my powers, the battle’s always on my terms. I’m a living weapon and this is a waste of my time.”

She grinned at him and purposely kept her voice soft, dangerous, challenging. “Prove it.”

Surprise, determination. He stalked over to her and crossed his arms. They nodded. The fight began, he lunged and she used his momentum to throw him across the floor. Wildcat had taught her many things. The first thing had been basic self-defense. The second thing was how to fight opponents that were bigger and stronger than her. They’d practiced until she could take down her teacher every time.

Robin cackled in the background but quickly muffled it.

Superboy got up and growled. This she could deal with, she’d done it with Roy. “You’re angry. Good, but don’t react. Channel that anger into-“ He flew at her and she again used his own momentum to knock him off his feet. She offered him her hand but he brushed her off.

“That’s it, I’m done!”

“Training is mandatory.” Her voice was still soft, but now it rang with authority. She thought she sounded like Batman.

He turned and hesitated.

It was then that Batman appeared on the monitor and debriefed them for a mission.

Superboy scowled at his commander. “So now we take out your trash?”

Batman’s reply was cool. “You had something better to do?”

Black Canary caught his arm as he started to storm off. “When you’re ready, I’ll be here.” She saw the fight fade from his eyes and he walked off calmly. She sighed and turned back to the monitor where Batman was waiting.

“You handled that well.”

She grinned wryly. “I’ve had practice with Roy.”

Batman nodded and changed the topic. “I was watching the lesson earlier. You did a good job with them. Hopefully Kid Flash will lose his arrogance if he keeps losing to you.” She heard his scoff. “Aqualad was given a chance to study a prime example of hand-to-hand combat, Miss Martian is not yet ready to fight, Superboy seems to be learning to channel his anger, and Robin… Robin thought it was all a big laugh but I’ll handle him.”

She looked up at the Team’s commander for a moment before speaking. “Batman, I’ll need to include him in the training sessions soon. Could you give me a time frame for when that would be possible?”

There was silence for a minute or so. “A month. I’m still teaching him how to pull his punches and how to spar safely with someone that isn’t me. If he isn’t careful, he could kill someone. Even then, I’d start him out against you or Superboy.” A pause. “Batman out.”

* * *

**Happy Harbor/Metropolis, August 3, 2010**

The trucks drove off and the Team followed them. The rest of the Justice League members that were present left. Superman was about to fly away when Batman grabbed his shoulder. “I told you, we need to talk.”

At Bibbo’s diner later that night, Bruce and Clark sat ordering their usual,

The reporter looked across the table at his friend. “Something tells me this isn’t about desert.”

Bruce refused to back down. “The boy needs you.”

“No! He needs you. He needs Red Tornado.” He looked away uncomfortably. “I’m just a constant reminder of what he’s not.”

“Sorry, Clark, but you’re dead wrong.”

The man looked at him in surprise. “I know he…troubles you. But he’s here. You have to get over the how. And why. Trust me on this. This boy needs his father.”

Clark surged out of his seat. “I’m not his father!” He put his hat on and snapped at Bibbo, “I’ll take that pie to go!”

Bruce just watched him leave. How could he reject his own flesh and blood? He understood that Superman had an unfortunate history regarding other Kryptonians on Earth but it wasn’t as if this was the first one he’d met that wasn’t outright hostile. The man had accepted Kara just fine. Which meant that his hang-ups were that Superboy was a clone. As someone with no living family, Batman was disgusted at Superman’s dismissal of his newfound duplicate. He didn’t deserve to mentor that boy.

* * *

**Mount Justice, August 4, 2010**

Batman stood up for Superboy as everyone save Black Canary looked at him accusingly. “Complications come with the job. Your ability to handle them has impressed the League.”

“The whole League?” There was that hope again.

“Given time, yes. Kryptonians, as you know, have very hard heads.” At least he got a smile out of him. He addressed everybody. “Of course there’s no shame in asking for help. That’s why the League exists; because there are some problems even we can’t handle individually.”

While Wally and Robin huffed about being followed and then excited about Speedy, Superboy turned to Black Canary. “I’m ready.”

She turned to face him. “Good.” Her voice was soothing. “Because I’m here.”

He smiled at her, thankful. She smiled back and led him to the training room. She turned and caught Batman’s eye as she left and saw his lips twitch in a bat-smile.

She looked back at Superboy, who had apparently seen the interaction. “He’s proud of you, you know.”

Shocked blue eyes met her own. “How do you know that?”

“He talks about you, he worries.” She took in his speechless face. “You know, Superman may be the mentor you want, but he might not be the mentor you need right now. I’m not telling you to stop trying,” she hurried, seeing his anger build. “I’m just saying keep your options open. If you ever need anyone to talk to, or want to practice something, or just want to spar, Batman and I are only a call away.” She continued walking.

She was surprised when she felt a hand on her forearm turn her around. She was even more surprised to see a genuine smile on Superboy’s face. “Thank you, Black Canary.”

“Dinah.” She corrected him. “If you ever need to talk to me privately, or if I’m teaching you one on one like this, feel free to call me Dinah.”

“Then thank you… Dinah.”

He continued to the training room ahead of her and Dinah was left feeling like Superboy had just called her mom.

* * *

**Mount Justice, August 4, 2010**

She panted as she walked into the female showers after her workout with Superboy. She was exhausted. The boy was fast and strong, if untrained. She flung her jacket onto the bench and toed off her boots. She’d just begun undoing her bustier when she heard him.

“Canary.”

Why wasn’t she surprised he was in here? “Batman.” She continued to undo her bustier bodysuit and slipped it off, keeping her back to him. She padded over to the showers in only her tights. She knew he wouldn’t look; he respected her as a hero and a woman.

Unlike Green Arrow, a voice in her head muttered, who’d ogled her since day one.

She headed into the shower and Batman didn’t follow. He’d talk to her through the wall. She tossed her tights out of the room after taking them off and turned on the water. She stepped under as he started speaking. “Black Canary, I understand you’ve taken Superboy under your wing, so to speak.”

“Is that a problem?”

He ignored the question. “I had been hoping you would aid me in guiding him. I watched earlier as you taught him how to use his anger. I approve.”

“Thank you. I did the same when I first met Roy. I believe it will help him focus and hopefully calm him.”

“I see.” She heard material shifting around. “And your name?”

“You heard that?” No response. “Well, if Superman’s not going to mentor him, someone needs to. And the rest of the Team knows their mentor’s names. By telling him my name, I let him know that I trust him and accept him.”

“You want to be his mentor?” Surprise coloured the Bat’s voice.

“Well, yes. At least partially. I know you want to help him too, so I was thinking more of a shared mentorship arrangement.” She turned off the water and began to wring out her hair. “And he’ll need someone to help him with his powers.” She looked around and swore under her breath. “Batman? Could you hand me a towel?”

A black-gloved hand appeared around the shower entrance, white towel in hand.

“Thanks.” She toweled herself off, and then ruffled her damp hair. She headed back to the locker room with the towel wrapped around her.

Batman was gone.

* * *

**Mount Justice, Aug 20, 2010**

A knock on her door was followed by Wally’s voice, less enthusiastic than usual. “Hey, Black Canary, could I talk to you?”

She slowly took a breath as she turned to look at the teen. This sounded more serious that the last time the boys had come to her. Her first ‘therapist’ moment. “Of course you can. Wally. Come in and sit down.”

The redhead shut the door behind him as he moved to sit in one of the green armchairs in her office. Oliver had given them to her as one of his infamous apology gifts. They didn’t match the décor of her apartment, but they were comfortable so she’d brought them to the Cave. The speedster uneasily sat in the chair. He wasn’t even fidgeting or eating; something must really have been bothering him.

Dinah moved to the other chair. She thought about crossing her legs at the knee but decided against it. She settled for crossing her ankles and writing in a notepad. Body language was very important. “So, Wally, what can I help you with?”

The teenager was quiet for a second. “Our last mission was terrible. We were sent to check on Kent Nelson, aka Doctor Fate. I messed everything up.”

Concern furrowed her brow. “I’m sure that’s not true. What makes you think it was your fault?”

“The mission was focused around magic. I always thought that magic was just a hoax, that it could be explained with science.” He paused. “But Megan likes magic.”

She very carefully did not roll her eyes. She’d known there’d be sexual tension the minute J’onn had walked into Mount Justice with the girl.

Wally continued and Dinah settled in to listen. “I tried to impress her by saying how much I liked magic whenever I could. My lies got us in trouble. I lied in the Tower of Fate and it knew. We almost fell into lava. Superboy _did_ fall into lava. The Team got separated. These two guys had kidnapped Mr. Nelson, but he kind of seemed to be humoring them. I ended up on the roof with Mr. Nelson, facing Klarion. He…he died, BC, and I couldn’t do anything. Klarion was going to take the helmet, so I put it on. I thought I’d save the day and take it off again. But Fate wouldn’t let me take the helmet off. Mr. Nelson ended up sacrificing his chance at an afterlife with his late wife to save me.” He let out a shuddering breath. “He died right in front of me and I couldn’t do anything and then he gave up his afterlife to save my life. What kind of hero am I?”

It was always the hard questions. “Wally, a very real part of being a hero is the danger. There’s always a chance that we’ll go out on a mission and we won’t come back. All of us know we’re courting death by saving people from villains or natural disasters. Kent Nelson knew the risks when he went up against Klarion without the helmet.” She smiled at him sadly. “I know it doesn’t make his death any easier. Another part of being a hero is trust in your partners. There are some heroes that are trusted above others because they’ll do everything they can to not only complete the mission, but make sure you come back safe too. But sometimes you can’t save everybody. Sometimes that’s yourself. In moments like that, you do whatever you can to make sure your partner or team gets out safe. That’s what Kent Nelson did for you today. He died a hero’s death, just as we all hope to one day.” She reached out to Wally and held his gaze as she squeezed his shoulder. “Don’t worry about being helpless. You’re still young and you’re only human. Superheroism takes time and experience. That’s why you’re here.”

Wally sighed as he stood. “Thanks, Black Canary. I guess I never really thought all this through; I just wanted to be like the Flash. I’ll try harder so in the future I can prevent something like this from happening again.” With that, he left the room.

Dinah watched him go, feeling like she’d just changed Wally’s perception of the world.

* * *

**Mount Justice, August 27, 2010**

Batman knew something was bothering Aqualad. Had been for a while. He’d spoken to Black Canary about it but she didn’t feel comfortable bringing it up with him. That was usually Batman’s thing. She’d agreed with him though, and promised to watch him.

It came to a head in Gotham. Batman had been giving them missions there for just such a situation. With their leader distracted, it was only a matter of time until the Team failed a mission. When that happened, he wanted his team in one of the Leaguer’s cities. Green Lantern was off-planet. Clark was still being difficult about Superboy. Aquaman was at the bottom of the ocean the majority of the time. Green Arrow was usually around Star City but…Batman didn’t trust him with the team. Dinah was spending the majority of her time recently either at Mount Justice or the Watchtower. That left only himself and the Flash that he trusted to watch the team. Therefore, Batman had lifted his ban on Gotham to let the young heroes complete their missions. They’d been scheduled for Central City next week unless something happened. Now it had.

Batman had been watching them so he’d been ready to jump through the glass roof to save Aqualad. He glared at the teenager and didn’t ease up until he returned with the muddy team to the mountain.

“I need to talk to Aqualad. The rest of you hit the showers and head home.”

Superboy looked him in the eye as he walked out of the zeta beam. “Head home? I am home.” He made an exasperated gesture as he turned toward his room.

Batman’s face softened the tiniest amount. That boy seemed to be picking up on some of the traits of his mentors. His own quiet broodiness, and Dinah’s spunk and tendency toward gestures made regular appearances. He reminded himself to spar with Superboy later in the week or teach him something.

He raised an eyebrow under the cowl when Robin stayed by his leader’s side. Loyalty, friendship, or a desire to be a part of the Dynamic Duo again? He also reminded himself to patrol with the little bird more. “Just Aqualad.”

Finally, just the two of them were left.

Aqualad’s eyes were on the floor. “I am sorry you had to intervene.” When he did look up, his eyes were clouded with excuses. “I know the Team performed poorly-“

The Dark Knight’s eyes narrowed. Making excuses was not leadership behavior. A leader accepted their faults rationally. “The Team performed adequately. The problem was you. You’re their leader and your head wasn’t in the game.”

Aqualad jolted. “No, you are-“

If the kid said mistaken…The World’s Greatest Detective didn’t get to be the leader of the Justice League by being mistaken. Most of the League thought Clark was the leader. He only appeared to be the leader. Batman worked better from the shadows, after all.

The Atlantean’s gray eyes seemed to dim as he sighed. “Correct.” He closed his eyes while he composed himself. “Of late I am not even convinced I belong on the surface world. For so many years it filled my every thought. But now that I am here, my dreams are all Atlantis.” The poor boy sounded tortured.

“Atlantis? Or someone you left behind?” The blonde’s head shot up. “You can split your time between the surface and the sea but not your mind. Either you’re here one hundred percent or you need to walk away. Make a decision Kaldur, and make it soon.”

He knew the kid was still there thinking on his words as he stalked off. A barely visible smile formed on his face. That had been some pretty good advice. It wasn’t only Black Canary that had ‘therapist moments’.

He had a sudden thought. He activated his com. “Unless there is an outstanding emergency or attack, all mentors are given a night off with orders to spend it with your student.”

Superman answered immediately. “Negative. Metropolis needs me.”

Batman rolled his eyes.

J’onn was the next to respond. “I am currently on Mars.”

Black Canary’s voice was in his ear. “In that case, M’gann and Superboy can spend some time together.” She hesitated. “They’ve been flirting.”

“Can’t. Artemis is with her mother.” There was no mention of Roy. Green Arrow was as charming as ever. Batman heard the distinctive click of the man’s com being turned off and assumed the man was with a woman. But Dinah was here in the cave. He heard her growl and realized what must be happening. Why was she still with him?

Aquaman answered. “Affirmative. Kaldur’ahm will join me for dinner.”

Barry finally answered, always last. Batman was convinced he waited for everyone else so that he didn’t talk so fast that none of them would understand him. “Thanks, Bats! It’s Jay’s birthday party tonight. It’ll be nice to have all the speedsters there.”

Batman smiled as he thought about spending time with his young partner. It had been too long.

* * *

**Mount Justice, September 6, 2010**

Black Canary heard the purposeful knock on her door and was about to tell whoever was outside to come in when Batman opened the door. He closed it behind him and Black Canary prepared herself for a team related talk. She watched the black-clad man seat himself in one of her green chairs and smiled at him. “Hello Batman, how are you?”

He glanced her way and obviously ignored the question in favor of looking around the office. “I haven’t been in here since we used Mount Justice. I like what you’ve done with the place.”

“Thank you.”

He steam boated ahead to his point. “I haven’t spoken to you since the Team came back from Bialya. Have they said anything to you?”

She looked to her notepad although she didn’t need it. “They all came to talk about it. M’gann realized as soon as she woke up that she was missing part of her memory. She got the Team back together and then fought off Psimon. She confided that she almost wasn’t able to but once Superboy supported her, she bested him with ease.”

Batman nodded. “She is coming into her powers. We are to assume that she is as strong as J’onn with none of the training, finesse, or experience. Sessions with J’onn would benefit her.”

Black Canary noted that in Miss Martian’s file. “Regular companionship with her teammates would also be wise.”

The Dark Knight hesitated. “Black Canary, I tell you this in confidence, from commander to instructor, leader to therapist, mentor to mentor.” He waited for her nod. “The girl isn’t J’onn’s niece. She’s a White Martian. She was heavily discriminated against on Mars after the civil war so he brought her here. Her powers will develop beyond what we know. The White Martians were able to out power the Green Martians. It could be dangerous for her to spend too much time with the Team.”

She frowned. “It could also be dangerous to separate her from them. Not only would it be discrimination against her, we could be risking an attack on ourselves. The Team keeps her grounded. Especially Superboy.” She smirked. “They’ve grown close.”

The man sighed but nodded. “Alright. We’ll just schedule some extra training with J’onn and monitor her. Who else?”

She flipped to the next page in her notebook. “Wally. He woke up and found Artemis near him. He brought her to a house for cover and flirted. When she woke up, she said something about her father and tests and killing Wally. They leaned on each other for support until they got their memories back. There are some repressed feelings between them that will cause a minimal disturbance in Team dynamics, even if they come to fruition.”

Repressed feelings. He noticed that she clearly stated that relations between the two would not hinder the Team. She hadn’t said such a thing about M’gann and Superboy. It was not reassuring and he resigned himself to headaches in the future. “Her father is Sportsmaster. Her mother was formerly known as Huntress. Her sister is missing but my sources lead me to believe she may have followed in their footsteps. I suspect she is Cheshire but it is unconfirmed.”

Once again, Black Canary noted the new information in the girl’s file. “First M’gann and now Artemis. Why am I only now finding out about this information and who else knows?”

“Their mentors know and I am uncertain how far into my systems Robin was able to get before I upgraded my systems and firewall. He knows to keep sensitive information to himself.”

She waited until it was clear that he had no intentions to explain further. “And me?”

“…I was uncertain how much I could trust you with this information. I knew little of your character outside the field and until recently, you have not taken an interest in the members of the Team.”

She glared. ”That’s bull and you know it! I am involved. I am committed. I show just as much interest in this team as you. Furthermore, you placed me in charge of their mental health and stability. I need to know these things. So next time you know a piece of information that could shed some light on one of our kids’ pasts and help me puzzle out any issues, share it. Clear?”

Batman quirked his lips and she felt like she’d just passed a test. “Clear.”

That man. “Aqualad was out the entirety of the mission after their memories were wiped. He was found severely dehydrated and unconscious in the desert. When he came to, he was delirious. He is fine mentally and on orders to drink lots of fluids and swim twice a day for three days.”

The League member nodded. “Expected.”

“He took Superboy and Miss Martian to Atlantis with him yesterday. I doubt his recovery will be an issue.”

She continued. “Robin seemed to take charge when he met up with the others and got his memory back. They listened to him, except when M’gann went off on her own to rescue Superboy. He was able to distract and take out many Bialyans on his own and seems to have no negative consequences following the memory loss. He is becoming more responsible and is constantly showing his leadership skills. You’ve trained him well.”

Batman smiled at her. “Thank you. Few others seem to think so. They don’t argue his competence but they express their concerns at his young age.”

A blonde eyebrow rose. “You’re talking about Wonder Woman? She came into this business as an adult and expects everyone else to as well. You and me? We know better. Gotham doesn’t give you that luxury.” She turned her attention to the last file on her desk. “Finally, we’ve come to Superboy. Have you spoken to him?”

The Bat shook his head. “We sparred and he seemed less aggressive than usual and more focused but he didn’t offer any information on the mission.”

She rolled her eyes. “And of course you didn’t ask.” A quick headshake. Men. “The last six months of memories were wiped from the Team’s minds. At that time, Superboy was still unaware in his pod at Cadmus. He had no human memories. M’gann brought him back to lucidity and he seems to have bypassed any after effects of the event by focusing on her. There’s a slight dependence issue between them. I’m afraid of what could happen to both of them if their relationship doesn’t go as they hope it will.”

As usual, Batman didn’t express his displeasure, but she could see the annoyance. “Why did I create a team of teenagers?”

Black Canary waited until he left her office before she laughed.

* * *

**Mount Justice, September 7, 2010**

“Batman!”

He turned to see Black Canary running toward him. He stopped and waited for the instructor. She stopped roughly a foot in front of him and grabbed his forearm. “I’ve heard from Roy.”

Red Arrow, as he was called now, had been out of contact with Dinah for over a week and she had been worried. “Report.”

“He’s in Taipei. He followed up on a lead that Cheshire was out to disrupt the peace summit by assassinating the arbitrator. He diverted the attack but was arrested along with Cheshire. Lex Luthor, the arbitrator, got him released and offered assistance in the matter. He visited Cheshire in jail to interrogate her and Sportsmaster broke her out. He pursued them via a tracer arrow on their helicopter. He tracked them to the League of Shadows HQ. Sportsmaster and Cheshire are working for R’as al Ghul. He escaped them when he was discovered and he contacted me. He says he’s out of his league.”

Batman thought. “Do you have a way to contact him?”

“Yes.”

He thought over it. Superboy and M’gann were otherwise engaged with some much needed training. Robin was busy in Gotham. Kid Flash was not suited to such an assignment and Artemis didn’t work well with Red Arrow. “Tell him to contact Lex and inform him of the League’s involvement. I’ll send Aqualad.” He knew the two of them were friends. Red Arrow seemed to be taking out his anger at Green Arrow out on the Team. If anyone could get him to stop that, it would be Aqualad.

Dinah looked at him with relief in her eyes. Obviously she understood his thought process. “Thank you.” With that, she was gone again.

Batman touched his com. “Aqualad, meet me in the debrief room. Red Arrow has contacted Black Canary for assistance. We’re sending you.”

* * *

**Mount Justice, September 16, 2010**

“Superman, we’re sending Superboy into Belle Reve on the mission. It’s more dangerous than usual so I’d like your approval to proceed.”

He didn’t have to wait long for an answer. “Batman, I told you he’s yours. Do with him what you wish. Stop contacting me about him.”

Batman gritted his teeth as the Man of Steel’s com audibly turned off. Not only was it childish, it was dangerous. If they needed Superman, they couldn’t reach him unless he happened to be listening. This is why he wasn’t the Leader of the League.

He sighed as he headed toward the debrief room. Black Canary, Martian Manhunter, Red Tornado, Aqualad, M’gann, and Superboy were waiting for him. Superman was supposed to be here too but he was being a child and avoiding Superboy. He headed to the lifted platform and faced everyone. “This past fourth of July, 4 ice villains staged simultaneous attacks – Mister Freeze, Icicle Jr., Killer Frost, and Captain Cold were all easily apprehended. Perhaps too easily. Cold and Frost were immediately sent to Belle Reve Penitentiary, a federal prison designed to house supercriminals. The 17-year-old Icicle Jr. was sent to a juvenile facility, Mister Freeze to his usual cell in Arkham Asylum. But Freeze petitioned the court to be declared legally sane, and Junior sued to be tried as an adult. As a result, both await transport to Belle Reve, which seems to have been the goal all along. I’m sending the two of you in to find out why.”

Aqualad stepped forward. “Who inside the prison will know their identities?”

“No one. We can’t be certain the prison staff isn’t compromised.” He turned to the two team members he was debriefing. “Superboy and Miss Martian. You are assigned on a mission into Belle Reve. You’ll be coming with me to New Orleans to wait for the Martian Manhunter and Superman to face the Terror Twins. Superman and Martian Manhunter will send them into the warehouse where we are waiting. Aqualad and Red Tornado will be waiting to apprehend them. Superboy will have already changed, Miss Martian will be given time to examine Tuppence Terror and adjust her appearance accordingly. You will be taken to Belle Reve with Icicle Junior and Mister Freeze. Try to find out any information you can using any means possible, but keep your cover. There will be nobody on the inside if you blow it.” He turned to Black Canary. “Black Canary will prepare you for the mission. Be in her office in a half hour. Good luck and be careful.” He watched as everybody save Black Canary left.

“I’m worried, Batman.”

“There is no need. Superboy will look very similar to Tommy with some work, and M’gann will be a duplicate of Tuppence.”

“But what if they blow the mission because of their feelings for each other? What if M’gann is compromised? Superboy won’t watch her be harassed and assaulted.”

He reached for the woman’s hand and rubbed his thumb along the back of it in a calming motion. “I wouldn’t want him to. We taught him better than that. Now, I need you to inform them of the risks and get Superboy ready. I sent you a picture of Tommy Terror on my way here.” He smiled as he let go of the small hand in his. “They’ll be fine, Dinah.”

* * *

**Mount Justice, September 22, 2010**

Once again, Dinah’s office played host to the illustrious Batman. “Good evening, Bats.”

The man froze. “…Bats?”

She hummed as she finished writing in M’gann’s file. “Saying Batman all the time is a bit much. I gave you a nickname. Is Bats okay? I could call you B, or B-man?” She knew he’d object to the alternate names she offered. Sure, Robin used Bats, but he used B more often. It was something just for them. As for B-man, it was Harley’s preferred name for him.

“It’s fine. Have you heard of anything strange among the Team?”

Strange? “Well M’gann and Superboy are dating. They kiss everywhere, in plain view of the cameras, so I’m sure Robin knows. It’s supposed to be a secret.” She hesitated. “Bats, do you think… Do we have to give them the talk?”

There was utter silence for almost two minutes. She could see the hero’s face twitching. “I suppose we should speak to them about their relationship regardless.” A rare smirk crossed his face. “I’m getting out easy with Superboy.”

She privately agreed. “Well that’s all that’s new with the Team, unless there’s something that you wanted to share?”

“Aqualad thinks there’s a mole in the Team investigating from within and passing information to the enemy.”

Her chair clattered to the floor behind her as she surged to her feet. “A mole? How come I haven’t heard of this?”

“It is still hearsay. Aqualad intends to investigate on his own. When asked, Red Tornado advised him that I would prefer not to be told. I too, will investigate and I’ll be starting with Red Tornado. If the mole is not in the Team, but the League, it could change everything.”

Dinah nodded. “I’ll keep an eye out too and keep you posted.”

Batman nodded and stood. As he was on his way out, he asked her, “Green Arrow says you have a hot date tonight?” He said it nonchalantly, like an afterthought.

Black Canary smirked at him. “It’s hardly that. I’m reevaluating our relationship.” He was _actually_ curious. Who knew such a thing could happen?

When she turned her head to see if he had an opinion, he was gone.

* * *

**Mount Justice, September 25, 2010**

Black Canary sighed. Batman sat in one of her green chairs, watching her. “How did this happen?”

He shook his head. “A lot of things went wrong. I watched my independent security feed.”

She wasn’t even surprised. “Of course you have an independent security feed.”

His lips twitched in a bat-grin. “Well the normal camera recordings are sent directly to the Watchtower. My cameras are battery operated, waterproof, fire resistant, and encased in rubber. Just in case.” He looked at her and grinned. “Aren’t you glad I’m paranoid?”

She laughed, agreeing that his paranoia had it’s moments. “So what did you find?”

He frowned. “Several hours before the conflict, Red Tornado was on his way to the Watchtower to cover Green Arrow’s monitor duty.” He looked at her pointedly. “Apparently you two had a date.”

“It wasn’t a date, it was our relationship reevaluation. Not that it matters, he cancelled at the last minute.” She scowled. “I told him I needed to talk to him when he had some free time. I was told his schedule was clear that night. He’s so irresponsible!”

Batman privately agreed and made a mental note to watch Green Arrow. If he kept this up, he’d be on probation. He continued, “I’ve already informed you that Aqualad informed Red Tornado of his suspicions of a mole within the Team. He wanted to tell me. Red Tornado advised him against it subtly. He did so in a way that inferred I would not want to be bothered with such things.”

“You said. Why would he do that?”

“His motivations were unknown to me at the time. I’ve since deduced that Red Tornado’s reasoning was that I generally let the Team handle their own problems. He likely didn’t consider that this type of problem was beyond their ability to fix or that it could affect the League.” He frowned. “It was roughly an hour later that the conflict started. Robin entered the Cave only to be immediately attacked, followed by Artemis. They realized they needed to move away from the zeta tubes and ran toward the exit dodging blasts of fire. They were then swept away by a tidal wave. They ran through the exercise room and into the showers. Robin tried a variety of emergency communications and overrides but was unable to get through. Artemis is shown with a finger to her temple. I believe she was attempting to reach M’gann.”

Black Canary interrupted. “Robin wasn’t able to get through? Who did he try to contact?”

Batman swelled with pride at the way his young protégé had handled the crisis. “He tried to contact the Team on their channel, he tried to contact the Batcave on my private channel, he tried his personal override code, which is equal to my own in our cave, he tried to reach the League on the secure Hall of Justice and Watchtower channels, with the message priority red. He reached the conclusion that the coms were down or blocked from the inside. They turned on all the taps to help with the fire blasts. When they were sealed in the running showers, Robin blew a hole in the wall as the other attacker manipulated water in an attempt to drown them.”

Dinah was impressed. “He was extremely thorough. I doubt most of the League would stay calm enough under stress to remember to do all of that.”

Batman smiled. “He remembered his training. I’m very proud.” He yet again continued with the report. “They ran to the kitchen, Robin told Artemis they needed to get lost – out of view of the cameras.” He expanded. “Artemis suggested the vents and Robin downloaded the cave blueprints onto his glove. They came out in the boiler room and encountered the fire attacker. Artemis found the access tunnel in the room and Robin blew up a gas tank to cover their escape. He found a connector in the tunnel and jammed the cave’s motion and heat sensors so they couldn’t be tracked. He downloaded the security footage to discover the identity of the enemy. They viewed a section of footage where Aqualad was bluntly asking about the Team’s loyalties, before an explosion took out the camera, the other camera followed within seconds. From then on, I relied on my own cameras to see what happened. In the library, Robin attempted to find the secret passage when they were confronted with one of the assailants, whom I later identified as Red Torpedo. The other assailant, Red Inferno, then made themselves known. Robin found the secret passage, and the assailants requested they surrender. After another encounter, they reached the hangar, where the rest of the Team was being held. Superboy insisted they leave himself and Kid Flash to instead help Aqualad and Miss Martian who were being held in a cage of fire. Robin and Artemis were unable to assist their teammates. They managed to escape to another tunnel. Artemis had a moment of panic, Robin observed that she was distraught, she agreed she was, to which he replied that she ‘get traught or get dead’.” He chuckled.

Black Canary just stared at him. “Bruce, how can you laugh?”

He shook his head. “I’ve trained him for this. Like Robin said, he’s been doing this since he was nine. He was joking the entire time. It keeps him calm.”

Dinah sighed. “Continue.”

“Robin realized the easiest way for himself and Artemis to beat the assailants was with an electromagnetic pulse. Earlier, a birdarang impacted next to Kid Flash’s head. I am unsure whether or not Robin intended that to happen, but it allowed them to communicate. With Kid Flash’s help, Robin was able to create an EMP. While installing it, Robin was knocked unconscious. Artemis remembered that Kid Flash had one of her arrows as a souvenir, brought it to the hangar, and used it to complete the connection between the EMP and the main generator. The assailants went down. Just minutes later, Red Tornado flew in, but the pulse had worn off. Some sort of spark passed between him and one of the assailants. His eye colour changed, and he attacked the Team. They were unconscious in minutes.” He frowned.

Black Canary sighed. “Then we showed up and sent everyone to bed. Then the next morning before breakfast, Superboy suddenly attacked Aqualad.”

Batman shook his head. “Aqualad was telling me about his suspicions of the mole. Superboy heard him and was understandably angry. The others, especially Kid Flash and Robin, made it clear that they saw his lack of trust as a betrayal. Then I appointed Captain Marvel as their Den Mother for the week, and he decided to go on the mission with them. They saw this as a lack of trust by the League. Although, Aqualad took leadership and they are back to working together as a team.”

“About that,” she wondered, “Why didn’t you appoint me as Den Mother, I thought that I would be, with Red Tornado missing.”

Batman nodded. “You are the first choice, but I need you with me until we figure all this out. Once things are back to normal, you will take over as Den Mother until further notice.”

Black Canary nodded and got up. “I’ll be glad to do it.” She turned to leave, as he stood in her office. After all, he could get in and do what he wanted whether he was invited or not. “I’ll talk to you tomorrow, I have a reevaluation meeting with Green Arrow, again.” She smiled at him before leaving. “Goodnight Bruce.”

Batman was content hearing she and Green Arrow would finally get a chance to talk about their issues and fix them one way or another. Bruce wished she’d break up with Oliver and date someone more worthy of her time. Maybe someone like… “Goodnight Dinah.” He smiled softly after her.

* * *

**Mount Justice, October 2, 2010**

“Have any of the team come to you to discuss the mission?”

Dinah looked up from her notebook. Batman was sitting in one of the green chairs across from her desk. He hadn’t knocked and she hadn’t heard him come in. He was just there. She wondered where he trained to be so good at stealth, and if Robin was as good at it as his mentor. “Yes, actually. Robin came by, Superboy and Miss Martian visited, Wally has been walking by my door with a troubled expression but hasn’t come in, Aqualad seems to be doing fine, and Artemis seems more confidant than she has in the past couple of weeks.”

Batman leaned forward to look at the five files on her desk. She knew he’d come by eventually and had left them out. He picked up Superboy’s file. “I can deduce Robin’s issues, and perhaps Miss Martian’s but why did Superboy visit?”

Dinah sighed. She recalled his downtrodden expression as he’d told her of his insecurities. “He felt useless. For all his strength and being a clone of Superman, he felt like he didn’t measure up to the super powered villains.”

Batman hummed.

She had to look at him twice. The Batman did not hum. She’d never heard him do such a thing. Was he opening up to her?

Batman’s mouth twitched in a bat-frown. “I don’t blame him. He hasn’t faced any of those particular villains before. He doesn’t know their weaknesses like someone more experienced would, and his skillset is a poor match for foes like Count Vertigo, Joker, and Wotan. Not only that, he’s only been out of the pod for a few months. I consider Superman a friend so I know how his powers work. Superman was 15 before he started to acquire any of his powers beyond the basic speed and strength. So not only is he inexperienced, he is lacking in powers that he feels he should have.”

Dinah nodded. “I agree. I’m not privy to information on Superman but I did come to the same conclusion concerning Superboy’s experience. Is there anything we can do to help him?”

Batman shook his head. “ Only time will tell. He’s one of three Kryptonians on the planet, and only the second male. There is very little in the way of data on them so there’s no knowing when he might develop a new power. We can only hope that he comes to us when he does. Training Superboy would be so much easier if Superman would stop being so hardheaded.” He smirked at her. “Though I find that those of us without powers are just as able. Perhaps the two of us should put him through some joint combat training. He’s progressing well with you but he doesn’t really need to know how to fight an opponent bigger than him and he’s not very flexible or acrobatic. I’ll start to train him on how to use his considerable strength and his surroundings to his advantage.”

She laughed. “You’re completely right. I never thought about that. It wouldn’t hurt him to use reason in the field either instead of charging in, if you wouldn’t mind hammering that into his head. Anyone who can get him to talk to them knows he’s intelligent, but he doesn’t know how to apply his intelligence.”

Batman nodded at her and leaned forward again to swap files. “Now that we have a plan to help Superboy, let’s discuss Artemis.”

Dinah grinned. She saw herself in the fiery, independent and very capable girl. She hadn’t wanted any help from anyone at that age either. “Artemis seems sure of herself again. She seems to have an aversion to drowning, which has been an issue on recent missions. A clear win seems to have restored her confidence in herself.”

Batman nodded. “I am pleased with her performance on missions. Robin tells me that he enjoys working with her.” He swapped files again and began flipping through it. “Which brings us to Aqualad.”

“Not much to say.” She shrugged. “Since your talk with him, leading the team seems to be his first priority. Since the mole incident, the Team seems to agree with him. He knows his limits and he’s working on combat with Robin and Artemis quite frequently. He knows his strengths and he’s putting in the work to improve on his weaknesses.”

A nod as Batman swapped folders again. “He has yet to disappoint me. Can you enlighten me about Kid Flash?”

Black Canary nodded and flipped through her notes. “As much as I can without him actually talking to me. Similarly to Superboy, he feels like he didn’t measure up against Count Vertigo or Wotan. To be fair, he ran directly at Vertigo instead of coming at him from the side or behind, allowing Vertigo to use his psychic abilities. Part of Wally’s problem is the way he thinks on the field. Another part is that he’s trying to be a frontline heavy hitter when he’s suited to frontline support and distractions and causing chaos.”

Batman nodded at her assessment. “Agreed. I’ve arranged for Kid Flash and Flash to have more frequent training as partners and I’ve discussed the issues with Flash, and he’s agreed to teach Wally the way he fights and some tricks of the trade. I believe he plans to bring in Jay Garrick to help.”

Dinah handed him the next file and took the old one from him. “And we’ve come to Robin.”

Batman opened the file and carefully read through the newest entries. “What’s wrong with him?”

“Nothing. He performed admirably, taking the lead when Aqualad was indisposed. According to him, this was his first time talking on any of the ‘bigger baddies’ knowing you weren’t nearby to help him if he needed it. The Joker said a couple things that disturbed him. He’s just a bit shaken up about it. Your comment that they were satisfactory did a lot of good after all that. Robin tells me that’s high praise coming from you.”

Batman sighed. “I worry about him. I’m glad to hear he’s doing okay.”

Dinah took the file from him. “This last mission went a long way in establishing his independence. He acts independent but you’ve been his security blanket for so long that he’s a little bit lost without you.” She handed him the last file when he looked like he’d composed himself again.

“So now that we’ve talked about the rest of the team, Miss Martian is up for discussion.”

Dinah sighed and planted her forehead soundly on her desk and sighed. “Out of all of our kids, she’s our problem child.” She groaned. “She refuses to take combat training seriously. While her training with her uncle has improved her skills she has no knowledge of tactics or strategy so her powers aren’t used to their fullest potential. She likes coming to me to discuss her day at school and how she’s feeling. Never anything about missions or the Team. She refuses to work on her weaknesses and she’s just so _soft_. As she is, she’s not suited to this life. I don’t know what to do with her.”

There was silence for a moment. “Come to the workout room, now.”

Dinah looked up from where her head was planted on her desk. Batman was in her doorway. “What?”

“You’ve never backed down from a Team issue before and I’ve never heard you dismiss anyone’s potential. Something is bothering you. Seeing as you’re usually the Team therapist, I thought I’d take up the role.”

She nodded and stood to follow him to the workout room. If it was locked on Batman’s authority, only Superman – who was avoiding Superboy and therefore the Cave - could freely open it. Even Robin couldn’t hack into the system without Batman knowing. She went in ahead of him and turned to watch him lock up the room. “So what’s been bothering you?”

She just looked at him, surprised that he was showing his concern and offering to help.

His lips quirked at the corners. “We can work it out if you don’t want to talk. We could spar if you want? Robin and I usually shoot some hoops.”

Black Canary looked up at his cowl. “I didn’t realize you were so close to Robin.” She sighed. “Then again, I base my expectations off Green Arrow. He’s afraid to face his own student. Roy needs him and Oliver is reluctant to help. _I_ was closer to Roy than he is! I just… I’m coming to realize that Oliver is very distant, emotionally. He puts on a good show, but that’s all it is. That bothers me. For my own sake, but also for Roy. I don’t think I can date a man like that.”

“Ah, your relationship reevaluation was postponed again.” Batman nodded. He had been wondering why she was at the Watchtower instead of on her date with Green Arrow. “I did notice that he is very single-minded regarding missions. I’m aware that I, myself, sacrifice people and things for the mission, but I still let certain people in. Just because he’s distant doesn’t mean he doesn’t care.”

She shook her head. “He lets people in. Felicity and Diggle.” She looked at him and saw his concern in the line of his mouth, the set of his shoulders. She trusted him. “Do you know that a woman only has thirty percent of her eggs left by the time she’s thirty?”

Batman bat-smiled at her. “Dinah, you still have six years.”

Of course he knew how old she was. “I haven’t told anyone because it upset me, but I asked him about taking our relationship further. I want more in life; I don’t even have a truly trusting partner. I’m not getting any younger and I want kids, eventually. He plainly said he had no intention of marrying me in the near future, which is something I would like, and he isn’t sure he wants kids. He doesn’t think he’ll be a good father, and honestly, after all this with Roy, neither do I.”

Batman sighed and surprised her by sitting down on the floor and dragging her down to sit next to him. “You know, I didn’t think I’d be a good father either until I was one. It took the right kid for me to see it.”

Black Canary blinked at the man. She tried to imagine the Batman sitting down to dinner with his wife and child or going about everyday life and couldn’t picture it. “You’re a father?”

She was subjected to his stare. “Only a few people know who I am. Wonder Woman, Superman, Robin, Flash, Kid Flash, Martian Manhunter, and Aquaman. I’ve worked with you enough to trust you. I’d like to tell you my secret identity, Dinah Lance.”

The amount of shock she felt when Batman asked her to teach was nothing compared to this. “I’m honored you trust me that much.”

Batman removed his cowl and awarded her with a rare smile. Dinah took her time looking at him. The strong jaw they were all familiar with, deep blue eyes, a straight nose, the cleft in his chin, the dark hair that could rival Superman’s. She was surprised to find that she recognized him.

A laugh bubbled up and she was helpless to stop it. “Bruce Wayne is the Batman?”

He shook his head and released a little chuckle, “The Batman is Bruce Wayne.”

She took a minute to take it all in before returning to the former topic of conversation. “So you were talking about being a father? Your son’s name is Richard, right?”

The man reclined back on the floor with his hands behind his head and his eyes closed. Dinah knew his relaxed appearance was just that. He could move at any time. “He’s my ward. I haven’t adopted him out of respect for his parents. I found Dick at a circus, Haly’s Circus. There was an attack on the most successful act by a mob boss and Dick was orphaned. He was a target so he had to leave the circus. He wanted revenge and I saw myself in him that night. I took him in and it didn’t take long for him to discover that I’m Batman. I told him that I could teach him how to get his revenge and he allowed me guardianship. I do what I can for him without being overbearing, because if there’s one thing I taught him, it’s how to take care of himself.”

“So your ward, Dick Grayson, he’s…”

“Robin, yes.”

“Oh, wow.” She flopped down next to him, staring at the ceiling, trying to absorb all the information. “Do you ever want more kids, Batman?”

He looked over at her. “You can call me Bruce. More kids? I suppose. I like children, and I sympathize with orphans from personal experience. I would take in another orphan in a heartbeat. As for biological children… If I loved a woman and she could keep up with me, then yes, I would have children.”

Dinah smiled. “It’s nice to see you as human.” She confessed. “A lot of us normal Leaguers see you as cold and unfeeling a lot of the time.” A chuckle erupted from her lips.

“What?”

“Nothing. I just had a thought. All of those business meetings you had with Oliver, and he doesn’t know you’re Batman.” She frowned at the thought of Oliver.

“Is he always on your mind?”

“Lately, yes.” She threw an arm over her face. “It’s just… You’re the same age, you’re from the same background, and you have similar histories, yet he just doesn’t measure up.” A groan of frustration. “It’s not even that he’s not ready to commit, or the trust issues. He can’t help that. It’s the way he handles things, his immaturity, his unwillingness to connect with Roy, the way he single-mindedly works out when he’s angry, his dismissal of his role in Queen Consolidated, the way he makes jokes to cover up that he just doesn’t care… Those things never used to bother me. All this time, he hasn’t changed, but I have. I don’t want to stay with him anymore.”

Bruce was quiet for a long moment. “If the relationship you have with Green Arrow no longer makes you happy, then you should end it. Although, cut him some slack. He can’t help who he is, Dinah. Also remember that you still have to work with him.”

She groaned. “Right. We share a city.” She slowly sat up. “Thanks for listening to all my nonsense, Bruce.” She smoothly got to her feet and moved toward the door. “I’ve got some thinking to do, if you could disable the locks?”

He wordlessly disabled the locks via his glove and watched her go.

It was hours later that her com buzzed and Batman’s voice came through. “If sharing a city with Green Arrow is what worries you, don’t let that hold you back. If you decide that leaving him is right for you and you need your space, Gotham will always welcome her children with open arms. Consider it an open invitation.” The link fizzled out.

Dinah sat at her desk in her office with her eyes wide and her coffee halfway to her mouth.

The next day, Batman told her that she was assigned Den Mother duty for the week and if M’gann wouldn’t take combat training seriously, tell her to go a few rounds with Robin, Batman’s orders.

She smiled, knowing he was giving her some time away from Green Arrow.

* * *

**Mount Justice, October 10, 2010**

Dinah reached up to activate the private channel on her com and waited.

“Go ahead Black Canary.”

“Hi, Bats. I just came from Combat Training with the Team. Zatara stopped by with his daughter Zatanna. I’m on my way to a meeting with him now. He sort of waved them away when Red Tornado came up in conversation. They’re annoyed that they’re not being told anything.” Why weren’t they being told anything?

“They aren’t being told because there’s nothing they can do. The League can handle it and they’re more useful doing missions than digging for leads.”

Dinah sighed. “Understood. Zatara sent them off to give Zatanna a tour. We both know they won’t go for that.”

A snort came through the com. “Of course not. They’ve kidnapped Zatanna with her permission and they’ve taken the bioship to search for Red Tornado.”

She grinned. Of course he knew what they were doing.

“Dinah, feel free to check up on them before the meeting. Contacting them will activate the tracker in the ship’s systems. At least we’ll know where they are if something happens.”

“Consider it done.” She hesitated. “Also, Bats, have you paid attention to how quiet the Team is?”

“Now that you mention it, I have noticed a lack of Kid Flash’s rambling and Robin’s joking.”

“That’s because they’ve been using the mind-link for casual conversation. It’s amazing. They all hear one another and respond so fast and they seem to be capable of having an outside conversation simultaneously. Do you think the League could do that?”

There was quiet for a moment. “I don’t think so. I don’t think J’onn is capable of such a thing. Additionally, that sort of connection leaves little room for secrets. Batman out.”

* * *

**Mount Justice, October 23, 2010**

“Dinah, please tell me they talked to you.” Batman sounded wrecked.

Black Canary lifted her head from where she was curled in a ball in her dark office. “They did, they all did. Bats, I can’t tell you anything where there might be people listening.”

There was a shuffling sound, then the sound of a car starting. “Use the zeta tubes to get to Gotham. I’ll pick you up and we’ll talk.”

“Okay.” Her reply was barely a whisper. She uncurled and wiped the tear tracks from her face. With a steadying sigh she stood to go wash her face. Batman would know she’d been crying but she’d be damned if she cried in front of him.

* * *

**Gotham City, October 24, 2010**

Fifteen minutes later – just after midnight – a Lamborghini pulled up in front of the alley she was waiting in. Bruce stepped out of the car. She mustered up a shaky smile and was beyond surprised when he pulled her into a hug. She hadn’t realized how much she needed it. She clung to him and buried her face in his neck. There was a flash off to the side and she was glad she’d changed into civilian clothes. She’d pulled skinny jeans and a white blazer over her tights and bustier. Accessorizing with a gold collar necklace and some black heels, most people would never even consider that she was Black Canary.

Bruce sighed and she realized he must’ve needed the hug as much as she did. “Thanks for coming, Dinah.”

She pulled away enough to look up at him. There was another flash. “Thanks for the invite, Bruce.” Her smile this time was slightly less shaky. “Come on, the press is going to have a field day; you meeting your new girlfriend by alleys at night.”

He looked at her gratefully as her led her to the car and held open the door for her. There was another flash as she got in. Once he was in and they were driving, he smiled. “Maybe the old Gothamites will stop trying to set me up with their daughters now that I have a pretty, young girlfriend.”

The blonde blushed. She hadn’t known he considered her pretty. She knew she had a nice body, they all did, but pretty is different. “Is that a problem for you?”

He looked over at her. The car stayed perfectly between the lines. Considering how often he drove these streets it wasn’t surprising. “The pretty girlfriend? No. Gotham’s old money and social climbers? That situation could be better. They just see my net worth. Most of that is the company. I invest a fair amount of my personal fortune into my nightlife, the orphanage, and Robin.”

She hummed and they rode in silence for a few minutes. She stared at the smoggy Gotham skyline as they headed up the hill to the Wayne Manor. “Where is Robin tonight?”

“At Barry’s. He and Kid Flash have had sleepovers there since Robin was eleven. It’s been awhile and I think Barry needed it as much as they did.” He glanced at her. “Plus, I needed some privacy.”

She looked at him and saw the stress lines on his face. Privately, she thought he needed the same thing Barry did. He needed to know his son was alright.

Bruce again opened her door for her and helped her out of the car when they arrived at his house. She gazed at the stately manor as Bruce tucked her hand into his elbow and guided her to the door. An older man opened it with a straight face. “Master Wayne, back so soon? And you’ve brought a guest.”

Bruce smiled at the man and handed the man his jacket. Dinah surrendered her blazer when asked. “Alfred, this is Dinah Lance.”

“Pleased to make your acquaintance, Miss Lance. Will you be needing anything else?”

Bruce glanced at her. “Tea in the study would be appreciated, thank you Alfred.” He motioned to the stairs as the man walked off.

He lead her to a cozy room with a large desk covered with an organized mess of papers, a couple wingback chairs, a coffee table, an expensive looking couch and doors to a balcony. He gestured to the couch while he sat in the chair across from her. It was but a minute later when Alfred brought in tea.

“Thank you Alfred, that will be all for the night.”

“As you will, Master Wayne.”

As soon as the door was shut, Bruce slumped in his seat. Dinah leaned forward to make him a cup of tea. He took it with a smile. “Thank you, Dinah. Sorry about all that but Alfred worries.”

She just nodded and made her own cup of tea. Oliver wouldn’t be worried. He probably wouldn’t even question where she was tonight. She looked at the man across from her and realized he was probably the only one as worried about the kids as she was.

He put his head in his hands. “Tell me about our children.”

She’d gone into this knowing she’d report all of her findings to Batman. Reporting to Bruce was different. She didn’t feel the need to be professional at all like she did with the Caped Crusader. “They all came to talk to me of their own volition.” That was always a good thing after a traumatic experience like they’d had. “Artemis is okay. She missed all of the ‘fun’ as she called it. Even if she wasn’t okay, I don’t know if she’d come to me. She’s extremely independent and very guarded. She reminds me of you in that regard.” She smiled at the man who managed a shaky laugh. “She feels the need to prove herself and sees opening up as weakness. I implied that I knew her secrets and advised her to share with the others. She was almost panicked and worried about what Wally would think. She’s strong, and she’ll open up to the others in her own time.”

Bruce sighed and it was obviously one of relief. “I was never worried about Artemis,” he admitted. “But at least one of them came out of this okay.”

“The rest of them weren’t so lucky.” She wrapped her arms around herself. “Kaldur has lost confidence in himself as a leader. He’s disgusted at himself for sacrificing himself as he did. He wanted to resign. When I asked him about a replacement, he elected Robin as the logical choice but the despair in his eyes as he refused to put the burden of leadership on the shoulders of a child was heart-breaking. He doesn’t see himself as a child, or Artemis, as she was the first person he considered to take his place. He’s keeping his spot as leader but it’s clear he plans to step down and give Robin his place sometime in the near future.”

“Somewhat expected. Aqualad is calm and collected under pressure, but he was not trained to be a leader. He functions well in a team setting but he doesn’t have the mindset of a leader on the battlefield.” Bruce rubbed his eyes. “Who’s next?”

“Wally.” She closed her eyes and took a couple calming breaths. She was surprised to feel a hand on her shoulder and when she opened her eyes, Bruce was sitting on the couch next to her. “He tried to convince me, and himself, that he was fine. He lost his mentor, all of his teammates, and then he and Robin knowingly sacrificed themselves. He ate four bags of popcorn, three sandwiches and a pizza during our session. He’s anything but fine. He only stopped eating when I brought up his reaction to Artemis’ death. We _know_ he screamed and cried and vowed revenge. He brushed me off. He’s in denial and he knows it. Sooner or later he’s going to crash.”

“That’s how he’s always handled things.” Dinah eliminated the distance between them and laid her hand over his knee when she heard the smallest tremor in his voice. “Robin and Kid-Wally,” he corrected himself “have been friends for five years. I know the way he reacts. He bottles it up until he can’t take the pressure. Something will set him off and he’ll break down. If Barry couldn’t help him, Dick and Roy were always able to put him back together. After that, he’ll bury it all under a smile until the next time he cracks.” Bruce held her hand in both of his. “He’ll pull through but it won’t be pretty.” He squeezed her hand before letting go. “How is Miss Martian handling things?”

“Horribly.” Dinah shook her head. “She was talking and all of a sudden her skin changes from green to Caucasian.” She remembers the girl’s sheer panic when she’d said white. “She didn’t realize she’d done it.”

Bruce took a small tablet out of his pocket. He typed for a moment and brought up a video. “Did she look like this?”

Watching it, Dinah was alarmed to see the girl who had sat in her office today in front of a school, falling into the arms of a boy that slightly resembled Superboy, cheerleading, being generally clumsy, and saying the phrase M’gann always said. “Bruce, what is this?”

“This is the theme of Hello Megan, a show from the seventies. Miss Martian watched it while she was on Mars. As I’m sure you’ve noticed, Miss Martian mirrors everything about the titular character.” He looked over and saw his fellow mentor gaping. “The character’s love interest is named Connor.”

The blonde was aghast. “What? She did that to him? She said she was fine being Megan but I didn’t know-“ She trailed off, barely able to comprehend the girl’s sheer dependency on the show. She shook her head. One problem at a time. “The girl is terrified of herself. I managed to convince her to train with her uncle to control her powers. Speaking of which, I thought you’d arranged that.”

Bruce closed his eyes. “I did. You have no idea what I almost did to J’onn when he told me today that he’d simply been teaching her Martian customs instead. He said he wanted her to remain a child for as long as possible and be happy. I was livid. She almost killed all of our children, including herself, because J’onn refused to train her. Robin has trained and fought beside me since he was nine years old. He’s still a happy, well-adjusted teenager. I’ve never seen J’onn back down so fast. I’ve threatened to have her returned to Mars if he doesn’t train her.”

Dinah nodded. J’onn had meant well but he’d been stupid to ignore Batman’s orders when the man had the best interests of their kids in mind because of misplaced empathy. If she remained a threat to the team because J’onn refused to train her… “I support that decision.”

“Thank you, Dinah.” Bruce sighed and leaned back into the back of the couch. He closed his eyes again. “Superboy or Robin?”

“Superboy.” She felt tears build up in her eyes and blinked them away. Just as Robin was Batman’s protégé, she saw Superboy as hers. “Bruce, is he a clone of Superman, or does he have another genetic parent?”

She felt him sit up and he pulled her into his side with an arm around her shoulders. “Lex Luthor funded the project and he is the other gene donor. A purely Kryptonian clone was unstable. The human DNA stabilized the clone. I’ve kept tabs on him. As Superboy has spent more of his time out of his pod, his Kryptonian DNA was slowly overcoming his human DNA. As of September, all remnants of Lex Luthor’s DNA are nonexistent.”

She wasn’t shocked he’d kept the information from her. He hadn’t known her well upon the formation of the team. He may have thought if she’d known she might have showed discrimination against Superboy, even though he couldn’t control his genetics. She knew she would have remained impartial but she preferred the close relation they shared now. “I ask because Superboy is wracked by guilt. He wasn’t devastated by the loss of everything he knows. One of his biggest ambitions is to be like Superman. During the simulation, he took that place. He was happy to have experienced the thing he’s wanted since he came out of the pod. I didn’t know what to tell him.” A tear trailed down her cheek as she thought about all the pain her boy was feeling.

Batman hugged her to him. He spoke into her hair and she curled into him and rested her head on his shoulder. “I do. I know this much about Kryptonian DNA: they have a considerable resistance to telepathic interference and a weakness to magic. Due to Superboy’s time with the G-Gnomes, he also has very slight psychic powers. His resistance is not equal to that of a Martian but he also does not have the drawbacks of Martian telepathy. Due to this, he would have been able to withstand Miss Martian’s forced take-over of the simulation without being overwhelmed like J’onn was. Since his subconscious mind was aware that he was in a simulation, he did not feel the extreme emotions that the others felt.”

She sighed and hugged the man around the neck in her relief. “Oh thank God, I was so worried. He’ll be so relieved.”

Bruce kissed the top of her head. “I’ll talk to him tomorrow.” There was a minute of silence. Dinah let the man move her until he was the one hugging her. She curled her legs up until they were resting over his knees. “Tell me about Dick.”

She rested her head against his chest and rubbed his arm to comfort them both as she began to speak. “Dick will need some time. He’s traumatized that his decisions as leader lead all his friends to die. He knew it was necessary but he hated having to weigh the pros and cons. He had to decide who they couldn’t lose, and who they could survive without. He doesn’t want to lead anymore, not after his first experience went so wrong.” She recalled his tears at the start of their session. “He saw you die Bruce. He was without you for the first time since he was nine and everybody died. Professionally, he’s lost his security blanket. He’s able to operate competently without you. Emotionally, he needs reassurance that you’re okay, that he’s okay, that he did nothing wrong, and him taking a leadership role wasn’t what got everyone killed.” She hesitated but she had to tell him. “He told me that he idolized you when he was younger. He wanted to be just like you. Now he’s seen what you do. He still wants to be a hero but he doesn’t want to be you anymore.”

Bruce pulled her into a fierce hug. “Good. I’m so glad he doesn’t want to be like me. I brought him into this life so he wouldn’t turn out like me, so he’d be better than me. I’m so glad.” He relaxed and she realized that she was halfway laying on him. “When he was younger, we’d cuddle on the couch with an old silent film when one of us had a bad night. Maybe it’s time we did that again.” He was quiet for a moment. “We’ll let him just be with the team for a while. We can ease him into leading again if he wants. At least enough to lead a small team. Easy assignments like recon to start, putting him in charge of Miss Martian. He’ll be fine. Our kids will be fine, won’t they?”

She nodded into his chest. “Yeah, Bruce. They’ll be okay.”

They sat there together until the grandfather clock in the corner struck two. Only then did Bruce move. “I have a meeting at nine.” He sighed as they both got up from the couch. He’d spent many nights in his youth asleep on that couch. As much as he wanted to stay there with his fellow mentor he knew he was getting too old to sleep on couches and his back wouldn’t thank him in the morning.

Dinah glanced at the clock, calculating how long it would take her to get to her apartment in Star City. “Do you want me to go?”

He shrugged. “That depends on you. I can drive you to the zeta-tubes and you can go home, or you can sleep here.” When she raised an eyebrow at him, he explained. “I had Alfred prepare a guest room while I picked you up. It’s yours for the night if you want it.”

She looked at him, saw the concern in his eyes. And the exhaustion the stress of the day had caused. “I’ll stay here,” she decided. “Do you have anything for me to sleep in?”

He headed out into the hall and trusted her to follow. “There’s a stocked bathroom across from the guest room, and I’m at the end of the hall. I don’t think we have any women’s clothing in the manor, but I can lend you a shirt if you don’t mind?”

They arrived at a room halfway down the hall. Three doors in either direction and the master at the end of the hall. “I’m okay with that.”

He nodded. “Make yourself comfortable, I’ll be right back.”

She walked into the room as he walked to his and smiled at the sight of the luxurious queen bed. She wasted no time in kicking off her heels at the foot of the bed and sliding out of her jeans. Her necklace was placed atop her jeans on the convenient bench at the foot of the bed. Her bustier was partially unhooked when Bruce knocked on the doorframe. She turned and smiled when he brandished the shirt at her. She turned her back to him again when it was tossed onto the bench beside her. “Thanks Bruce.” She finished with her bustier and slipped off the leotard. She turned to face him a moment later in her tights and the shirt which fell to mid-thigh.

He watched her slip her tights to her knees and bend at the waist to fully remove them. “Thanks for coming tonight, Dinah. As important that it was that I heard about the team, I think I needed this.”

She knew he meant their moment on the couch. “There’s no need to thank me, I needed it too.” She padded over to him. “Goodnight Bruce.” She leaned up to kiss him on the cheek, then shut the door.

As he settled into bed that night, his worries eased by their talk, he drifted to sleep with her on his mind. The friendly kiss on the cheek. Those long toned legs. The sight of her wearing only his shirt with her hair messy from cuddling on the couch. How she was in a relationship that was headed nowhere with Green Arrow. Above all, he thought on how good she’d felt in his arms.

* * *

**Gotham City, October 24, 2010**

When Dinah went downstairs the next morning and ventured into the kitchen, the last thing she expected was a full breakfast on the table, freshly brewed coffee and Alfred holding an envelope. “Good morning, Miss Lance. How was your evening?” He pointedly slid over the morning paper. Apparently Bruce Wayne’s new girlfriend getting into his car after an intimate embrace was front page news in Gotham.

She was suddenly incredibly conscious of her clothes that she’d worn last night. The bathroom had had spare toothbrushes and such so that she felt human but even so. “It wasn’t anything like that” she stammered, “We’re just friends.”

Alfred raised an eyebrow and replied dryly. “I thought not. You don’t have the look about you that his normal flings have.” He gestured to the seat and she dutifully sat and started in on the breakfast.

Her eyes widened as she took her first bite of the hashbrowns. “These are delicious!” She was quick to praise the man. She hadn’t had hashbrowns in ages, and was that black pudding?

If she hadn’t known better, Dinah would have assumed that Bruce had learned his bat-smile from Alfred. “Thank you, Miss Lance. It has been some time since someone has appreciated my full English. Master Wayne and young Master Richard are more particular.” He sipped his tea. “May I speak plainly, Miss Lance?”

She smiled as she sipped her own coffee. “Of course, Alfred.”

He nodded. “Whatever you did last night with Bruce, I’d like to thank you. He came home last night looking worse than I’ve seen him in years. When he left this morning for work, he looked better than I’ve seen him in a long time. Whatever you did, it worked miracles.”

Dinah looked down at her plate for a moment as she decided what to tell the man. “Do you know who I am, Alfred?”

“The Black Canary, I understand.”

She nodded and took a bite of the beans on her plate. “Yes. Bruce and I are in charge of the team that Robin is a member of. It’s Bruce’s team of course, so he’s the commander. I’m the combat instructor and therapist, and female influence for lack of a better term. We both mentor certain members and the team comes to us with any concerns or needs.” She sighed. “There was an incident yesterday. Both of us were busy dealing with the fallout and our meeting last night eased both our worries.”

The Wayne family butler sat quietly through her explanation though she saw his eyes widen when she addressed Bruce so casually by his name. “That sounds very much, Miss Lance, like parenting.” With that, he slid the envelope over to her and left the room.

Dinah took a moment to just absorb what he’d said. Parenting? It wasn’t parenting, they were just mentors. She brushed aside the surge of affection she felt for Superboy at the thought. She looked at the envelope in front of her. It hadn’t been sealed and her name was printed on the front in Batman’s precise penmanship. With a lot on her mind, she opened the letter.

_Dinah,_

_Thank you again for coming to meet me last night. It was therapeutic to speak with someone who worries about the team as much as I do. I wanted to tell you in case you weren’t up before I left. Concerning our meeting and your worries about Green Arrow, just let me know and you can stay in your room in the Manor, or my penthouse if you’d like. I meant what I said about the open invitation. You’re always welcome in Gotham._

_P.S. Sorry about the paper._

_Bruce_

After reading the short note, she read it again twice more. The bit about last night was straight-forward. The other bit though… Was he inviting her to visit him again?

She glanced around and saw a small pad of paper and a pen by the phone. She ripped off the top sheet and left her note on the table where she was sure it would be found. That done, she hunted down Alfred to ask if she could be driven to the zeta tubes.

_Bruce,_

_You know I always like talking about the kids. Thanks for the talk and the room. I’ll be sure to let you know if I need some space. Thanks for being there._

_P.S. There’s nothing to be sorry for. I’m a billionaire’s girlfriend now._

_Dinah_

* * *

**Mount Justice, November 5, 2010**

“I’m glad you brought Zatanna, old friend. Does this mean you’ll allow her to join the team?”

“I do not know. Zatanna’s so… My only child. I wish I could get used to the idea that she’s growing up.”

There was a flickering sound and the crate that Superboy had been carrying crashed to the floor. They turned just in time to see Artemis and Zatanna flicker out of existence.

“Zatanna!”

Batman’s hand went straight to his glove. Upon bringing up the cameras, he saw no intruders in the Cave. He also didn’t spot the children. His hand went to his com. “Access Mount Justice, override 02BEMT. Batman to Team.” Nothing. “Batman to Aqualad.” Nothing. “Batman to Robin.” If Robin hadn’t answered the emergency transmission to everyone wearing his or her com in the Cave, he wasn’t here. He ignored the beep coming from his private com link with Dinah. “Batman to Batcave.”

Alfred answered immediately. “Master Wayne, how unusual to hear from you.”

He didn’t even pretend to be nice. “Is Robin in the Cave?”

“No, wh-“

He cut off Alfred to check his house. “Batman to Batcave, override BBRGCR2.” The Batcave override allowed him to access all the cameras in his cave as well as in his house. Robin wasn’t there. “Cave calling Justice League HOJ/Watchtower 02 priority red.”

“Batman, what’s the emergency?” Bruce thanked the heavens it was Flash.

“Is the Team there? If they’re not, do you know where they are?”

The confusion in the speedster’s voice would have been comical if Batman wasn’t in such a panic. “No, I haven’t heard from Wally since yesterday. They were supposed to be at Mount Justice today.” Trepidation began to come through. “What’s wrong, Bats?”

He closed his eyes to get himself together. “The Team’s gone. They were all in the room with me and then they’re gone.”

“Whoa!” Flash sounded worried. “It’s not just us. It’s all over the Internet. It seems like every kid on the planet has gone missing.”

Batman’s eyes narrowed. “The only thing I know of with enough power to do that is magic. Several powerful magic users grouping together. This smells like Klarion’s work. Thanks Flash.” He cut the com. “Zatara!”

The man turned to look at him with eyes wide with fear. “It’s magic that’s done this, likely with Klarion at the helm. I’ll need you to locate the ritual site.”

The man nodded and ran for the central room, where the main computer was.

Batman finally answered the com that had been continuously beeping as he ignored it. “Yeah.” He started toward the central room after Zatara.

“Bruce! You sent out an emergency transmission then refused to answer your com. What’s wrong?”

“The kids are gone, Dinah. All of them. Not just ours but all over the world.”

“What do you mean gone? All the children in the world can’t just disappear just like that.”

At this point he was in the central room beside Zatara, pulling up reports from the League beside Zatara. “Even so, they’re not here. Aquaman reports the same in Atlantis.”

“Well what is considered a child?”

Batman’s fingers flew, looking for anything on – there! “Eighteen. I’ve located Red Arrow but I can’t find anyone younger than that.”

“At least we have the majority of the League to help locate them.”

“We have everyone except-“

“Recognized Captain Marvel, 15.”

He and Zatara turned.

“Alright guys, I’m here to-“ The man’s face lit up with a heartfelt grin and he lunged forward to scoop them up in a bone-crushing hug. “You’re back! Is it over? Where’s the team?” He let them down.

“Haven’t you heard?” Zatara’s worry for his daughter was causing him to lash out at everyone. Batman understood. He would be doing the same if he wasn’t in charge of actually finding them. “Every child in the world has-“

“Zatara.” He cut the man off. It was obvious the newly arrived hero had no idea what had happened. If his hunch was correct… “Wait. Captain, where have you been?”

“On a world without grown ups.” His eyes were wide as he realized the implications of what he’d said. “Holy Moly! There are two worlds!”

“Two dimensions,” Batman corrected. “One for adults-“

“And one for kids.” The Captain finished.

“And you can travel between them?” Zatara demanded.

“I-I think I can; I know I can! Shazam!” The man was gone in a flash of lightning.

Batman returned his attention to Dinah over the com. She’d been quiet, listening. “This is going to be a headache once this is over.”

“Why?”

He checked to make sure Zatara was out of hearing range. “Captain Marvel isn’t actually a man. He’s just a boy. I’ll send you my file on him.”

Dinah, bless her heart, didn’t even question the fact that he had a file on one of their teammates. She likely assumed he had a file on everyone. Which was true. “We’ll cross that bridge when we come to it. For now, I’m just grateful that we have a means of communication with the team. If we can coordinate our efforts then we can fix this.”

He was quiet for a moment. “You know you can’t come.”

“I know.” She didn’t have experience fighting against magic-users. Batman however, was used to taking on magic-users that Superman couldn’t. “Be careful, Bruce, and bring them back.”

“I promise.” There was a determined glint in his eye when he closed the link between he and Dinah. He always kept his promises.

* * *

**Gotham, November 6, 2010**

Batman took a steadying breath as he opened the private com link. “Dinah, are you there?”

“I’m here Bruce, are you alright? How is the team? I saw the news, all the children have returned.”

He was quiet.

“Bruce?”

“We lost Zatara tonight.”

She gasped. “Oh no, what happened?”

“Zatanna put on the helmet to take on Klarion. Zatara sacrificed himself up to be Doctor Fate if the helmet let Zatanna go.” He took a moment, only too familiar with the pain the girl must be feeling. “We have another child, Dinah. Congratulations, it’s a girl.”

The joke fell flat and they both knew it. “Bruce, how can we help her?”

“I’ve offered her a place in my home but she opted to live in the Cave instead. She’ll be around her friends and she’ll need them. Robin especially seems empathetic. He’s been through something similar, as have I. We make ourselves available if she needs it, and give her space when she needs that.” Exactly what Alfred had done for him. He’d never stopped being grateful to the man for that.

“What about legalities? Her education?”

“Don’t worry about it, I’ve taken care of it already. Zatara is her legal guardian on paper, but I’ll cover her financial expenses. She’ll finish this semester in her current school and transfer to Happy Harbor High in the new year. Dinah, she’ll need somebody to talk to.”

“I know, and I’ll be there for her however she needs it.”

“Thank you.”

“Don’t, I want to do this. It’s not a job.” She laughed a little. “Although my romantic options are looking slim. What man will want a twenty-four-year-old woman with six kids she’s responsible for?” With the addition of Zatanna it was seven.

He laughed too. “You’d be surprised.” He closed the link. Him. He would want her no matter how many kids she took under her wing. He’d want her unconditionally, kids included. Then her kids would become their kids, just like the Team.

* * *

**The Watchtower, November 13, 2010**

Batman was on monitor duty, smiling as he listened to Black Canary tell him about her latest therapy session. “I’m so proud of Wally, Bruce. He came to me to talk about the mission. How can someone grow up so much in the course of a day?”

He quickly locked the doors and disabled the cameras, as well as erased the footage of the last minute. He knew they were alone up here but he couldn’t have just anybody find out who he was and see him smile. “What did he say?”

“He was telling me about how he was disappointed to get the glorified delivery boy mission when the rest of the team was working alongside the Justice League for the first time. Even so, he took the mission seriously. He lost time when he was held up by Vandal Savage, then an imposter took the heart when he got to the drop off point. They told him the Queen had died just minutes before. Minutes he spent fighting Vandal. He was devastated. The real surgeons arrived and he realized he’d been duped. He got the heart and Queen Perdita lived.” Her smile was radiant.

Batman decided not to tell her he already had all this information from Kid Flash’s own report. She looked so happy. “And?”

“He’d collapsed due to running on an empty stomach but woke up while Perdita was in recovery. They hatched a plan to convict Vertigo of attempted murder and get rid of his diplomatic immunity. Everybody always underestimates how smart Wally is because of his mouth. It was a brilliant plan. The Count was sent to Belle Reve. The Queen offered Wally an heirloom of her country as a souvenir but he turned it down for the organ transplant box. He said that was the right souvenir.”

Well he’d left the souvenir out of the report. Batman spun his chair to face the stunning young woman he worked alongside everyday. “He did that?”

“Yes!” Her excitement was practically tangible. “He said seeing Perdita smile was the best present he could have gotten. Bruce, it’s like he finally understands. It doesn’t matter if the task is less than what you’re capable of if it means helping someone in need. I’m just so proud of him.” She wrapped her arms around herself and smiled.

He stood and set his hand on her shoulder. “So am I, Dinah.” She surprised him by turning into him and wrapping her arms around his waist. He wrapped his around her shoulders and back respectively.

“I watched the footage of the fights today. All of the team working alongside their mentors, except Zatanna and Kid Flash, obviously. I could see their progress so clearly. Robin admittedly just needs to grow up. Even if he never grows, he’s still fully capable of taking down most anyone. He just needs to mature a little. Aqualad surprised Aquaman by fighting differently than he was used to. Artemis worked alongside Oliver as well as can be expected of two people who have only met once. Miss Martian is still hesitant but did what was required of her. Zatanna was fantastic. She brought down that ship with one spell. Superboy was great. He’s thinking more, he covered me when we arrived, and he always made sure he knew where I was and any threats around us. They’re all growing up.” She sighed. “They’re going to be great some day.”

Batman shook his heat with a smile. “They’re great already.”

* * *

**Mount Justice, November 22, 2010**

Batman watched Dinah walk out of the zeta tubes with Green Arrow, neither of them in costume.

“We came as soon as we got your message.” She sounded worried.

“What’s the problem?” He sounded irritated.

Batman hoped he hadn’t disrupted their long overdue meeting. “There’s something you both need to see.” He brought up the video.

Black Canary and Superboy we sparring, a common occurrence. She brought him down, also common. “Almost had me that time, Connor.” Her tone was downright seductive. A tone used with a lover, not a boy she saw as her protégé and not-quite son. She pulled him up. “You deserve a reward.” She pulled him into a heated kiss. She seemed quite into it, Superboy, however, did not. He kissed back but he was quiet and kept his hands still on her back in safe territory.

Dinah and Arrow both gasped.

Arrow turned to her, aghast. “Dinah!”

“Freeze playback!” She turned on her… Batman was pretty sure Arrow was her boyfriend. Dinah was exclusive at the very least. “That never happened!”

Batman was in no mood for a lover’s quarrel. “You need to keep watching. Play.” He watched the couple as they saw Dinah in the video, break the kiss, laugh, and turn into Miss Martian. “Freeze playback.”

Arrow immediately started laughing. Dinah whipped around to hit him. “Don’t you laugh! She – he – Oliver, this is not funny!”

The man got himself together and cleared his throat. “No. No, of course not.”

J’onn stepped forward. “Please understand. On Mars, this is a common game. My people all shape shift but also read minds so no one is ever misled. And I am certain Connor knew he was with M’gann from the very first.”

Dinah was not in an understanding mood. “We’re not on Mars, J’onn!”

“No,” He dragged out the syllable. “But my niece does not understand that things are different on Earth.”

“Then I’ll make her understand.” Batman hadn’t seen her this mad since he’d seen the footage from the night Red Arrow had insulted his former friends and refused to join the team.

He cleared his throat. “Canary, could I speak with you privately?”

She glanced at Arrow. “I’ll met you when I’m finished here, Oliver. Our talk isn’t over.”

Damn, he’d interrupted their meeting.

They headed to Dinah’s office as Green Arrow and Martian Manhunter left through the zeta tubes. Once they were inside, Batman closed the door. “You have a right to be upset.”

“Upset?” She paced back and forth in front of her desk, gesturing madly. “I’m beyond that. Didn’t J’onn teach her better than this when he taught her about Mars?”

Batman collapsed into a green chair. He’d had a late night with Harley Quinn last night and he was too tired to deal with his team. It almost made him miss dealing with Talia, who he hadn’t seen in years. At least she wasn’t the Joker’s brand of crazy. He rubbed his eyes under the cowl. “He didn’t, apparently. We’ve spoken at length about it. He understands how vexed I am.”

“It’s not just that it appeared like I was kissing a boy that I think of as a son. It’s that she sees nothing wrong with pretending to be other people. She’s afraid to be herself and J’onn coddling her isn’t helping.”

Batman nodded. “I know.”

The blonde suddenly turned on her heel to face him and set her hands on her hips. “Now, while I’m talking to M’gann, I want you to talk to Connor.” She smirked and he couldn’t help but think it looked just this side of vicious. “Don’t think I forgot that we have to give them the talk.”

He sighed. Definitely too tired for this.

* * *

Dinah attempted to give herself a pep-talk after she and Bruce headed out for their respective talks. M’gann would hopefully know something about relationships and their consequences. She watched a lot of TV and it wasn’t like the League had blocked any channels or Internet sites. If she wanted to look up some adult content, she was free to do so. Although Black Canary was sure the girl would be embarrassed and evasive. She wouldn’t ask questions, even if she had any. Even so, Dinah would instruct her on alternate forms of intimacy, and on safe sex. And privacy. There would be no more videos of Connor kissing his mentor.

There was no telling what Superboy knew, or if he even had a libido. Knowing him, Superboy would know the bare basics of sex; the scientific knowledge necessary for procreation. Batman was a good man, hopefully he’d tell Superboy about the risks and about intimacy and alternatives and…perhaps she’d just ask them both after their talk.

She reluctantly made her way down to the hall to M’gann’s room. She knew the girl was in there watching Hello Megan, that old show that Batman said she’d watched on Mars. Dinah had seen a couple episodes and once she was warned about the connection, she’d watched them again and had been concerned enough to make notes in the girl’s file. M’gann’s mental state was so dependent on a fictional character that Dinah was very worried about what she’d do if she ever realized that the show was just an idealistic microcosm of human society.

She put that behind her as she sighed and knocked on the door. “M’gann.” It was never a good idea to startle a metahuman, alien, or a Bat. At the same time, she couldn’t ask to be allowed into the room, as it would portray weakness that was unbefitting in an instructor. She opened the door to see M’gann dressed in her usual fashion but her holo-screen was right there on her bed. Perhaps she should let Batman know exactly how dependent the Martian girl’s mental state was on that sitcom. She made a mental note to do that as she settled in for a talk.

* * *

Batman swiftly stalked toward the Boy of Steel’s room. He didn’t announce himself. Superboy could hear him coming. He slowly turned the doorknob to give Superboy notice of his entrance. He needn’t have bothered; the boy was sitting on his bed, resting his forearms on his knees, waiting. Batman glances around the room, considers the desk chair, disregards it, then sits on the bed next to his charge. “Black Canary wants me to talk to you about sexual intercourse.” It seemed like just yesterday he’d given Dick the talk.

Superboy nodded. “I know about sexual intercourse. Intercourse is essential to procreation. The male reacts to stimulus, the penis becomes engorged with blood, he mounts a female, through oscillating thrusts the stimulus is sufficient to provide ejaculation, where the sperm fertilizes the egg and an offspring is created.”

Batman groaned and rubbed a hand over his jaw. “All true but there’s so much more to it than that.” When he’d given Dick the talk, he’d done so as Bruce. Giving the talk as Batman felt fundamentally wrong. Could he…? He cautiously pulled back the cowl. He looked at the shocked-looking teen who seemed to be trying to memorize his face. “Okay, I know Dinah has given you permission to call her by name in private. If this isn’t private then I don’t know what is. My name is Bruce. Would you prefer to be called Superboy or Connor? I understand that Miss Martian has named you.” Named him after a character in a sitcom. He wondered what would happen if Superboy found out about that.

The blue-eyed superteen shrugged. “I’m okay with either name.” He seemed to be unable to look away from his commander’s newly revealed face.

Bruce cleared his throat. With a wave of his hand, there was a holo-screen in the air in front of them. He brought up an image of the female and male bodies. “Okay, Superboy. So sex is not only for the purpose of conception, but also for pleasure. The point of ejaculation that you referred to earlier is also called orgasm. It is the peak of sexual excitement resulting in rhythmic muscular contractions in the pelvic region, muscular spasms, body movements, vocalizations, and a feeling of euphoria. Usually, this feeling is the reason for sex and not conception. If someone approaches you for sex, it is safe to assume that they desire an orgasm or they want intimacy with you.” What else? “There are also risks associated with sex. Humans can become infected with Sexually Transmitted Infections. They are often painful and honestly they look disgusting. The Kryptonians I’ve come into contact with are unable to become infected with human infections or diseases. Nevertheless, I will be testing the entire team for susceptibility to these infections. Even if you are not susceptible to these infections, it is advised that you always make sure your partner does not have them. You wouldn’t want to infect any future partners, after all.”

Superboy nodded. “Okay. That was very informative. How do you achieve this orgasm?”

Bruce glanced at the teen. He was more attentive than Dick had been. “When you’re having sex, it is standard procedure to make your partner orgasm at least as often and as intensely as you do. We’ll go over that in a moment.” He looked the teen in the eyes. “Superboy, have you pleasured yourself?”

The teen didn’t even flush. Bruce found the young clone’s failure to conform to social norms refreshing. “No.”

“You’ll want to do that. How can you please your partner if you don’t know pleasure yourself? It will also help your partner pleasure you if you know what you like.” He cleared his throat. “It’s a common practice among people to pleasure themselves, in private of course. It’s relaxing and it increases your sexual stamina.” He nodded. “Okay, orgasms. Male orgasms are fairly simple. A relatively small amount of penile stimulation does it for us. Women are different. They take longer and they’re more complicated. Now, the first thing you should know is that you should always pleasure them first and be gentle if you want them to come back for more. And you _do_ want that.” He made sure to look seriously at Superboy to reinforce his point. “Some women like their breasts stimulated. Avoid the nipple until it hardens at least. Softly rubbing the undersides of her breast has worked for me. Second, if she likes what you’re doing with your hands then doing it with your mouth and tongue is a good idea. Avoid using your teeth until you’re more experienced. Are we clear so far?”

Superboy was looking at the picture of the woman with sharp eyes. He seemed to be memorizing every word. “Yes.”

“Good. Most women also like to be teased a little bit. Light touches on her legs and stomach build her anticipation for orgasm. Finally we come to the clitoris and vagina. The clitoris is important. Not all women can achieve orgasm through penetrative sex alone. In fact, most need additional clitoral stimulation. You can do this by gently rubbing it with your finger or your tongue. You can suck gently on it too if you’re careful with your teeth. Inside her vagina is very soft, and very sensitive. Inserting your fingers and tongue can yield fantastic results. I recommend that you watch some porn to see a practical application of this knowledge.”

“Okay. Can I find it on the Internet?”

“Indeed. I’m sure Kid Flash and Robin can recommend some sites, if you like.” At this point, Bruce removed a box of condoms and a small bottle of lubricant from his utility belt. “Do you know what these are and how to use them?” He waited for the teen to nod. “Good. They’re yours. This first time they’re on me. From now on you’ll have to buy your own.” He turned and laid a supportive hand on Superboy’s shoulder. “I know you’re dating Miss Martian and so does Black Canary. They’re having a talk just like we are. We support you but we want you to be careful. Always use contraceptives unless you want to have a baby. And above all, never pressure anybody into something they don’t want to do. That’s considered  sexual harassment or even rape and everyone you know will come after you.” He made sure to smile gently to reassure the kid. “Which also applies to you. If anybody pressures you into something you’re not comfortable with then tell them no.” He looked into the boy’s eyes. “I saw the footage of you kissing Miss Martian when she was disguised as Black Canary. You didn’t look like you were enjoying it. Were you comfortable with that?”

The boy averted his eyes and shook his head. “No. Dinah is like my mom.” His eyes widened. “Don’t tell her that!”

Bruce smiled. “I won’t but you might want to. I’m sure she’d like to hear it. I know she feels similarly toward you.” He gave the boy a second with that. “Superboy, if you weren’t comfortable with Miss Martian’s plan, why did you go along with it?”

The teen shrugged. “M’gann wanted to. I didn’t want to hurt her feelings.”

He sighed. “Superboy, relationships are about give and take. Just like you don’t want to hurt her feelings, M’gann should consider whether what she wants would make you uncomfortable. If she didn’t consider it and asks you to do such a thing, it’s perfectly okay to tell her no and explain yourself. If she cares for you, she’ll understand.” He saw that the boy didn’t look convinced and decided to let him think about it. They could always have another talk. “If you’re ever unsure about any of this, you can always come to me or Dinah with questions. I think that’s everything.” He looked to the boy. Superboy was staring at the picture of the male with a heated look on his face. “Superboy, have you ever had homoerotic feelings?”

The teen looked away and refused to say anything.

Bruce reached over and gently turned the young man’s head with a finger on his jaw. “Superboy, would you like me to go over sexual intercourse between two men? I doubt you were taught about it at Cadmus, and it wouldn’t bother me to do so.” Heaven knows it was something he’d taught Dick. It didn’t matter if your partner was male or female when you got a whiff of Ivy’s sex pollen. You did what you had to do to survive.

Blue eyes showed surprise and gratitude. “Yes.”

There was silence as Bruce searched through the database for an appropriate picture to use to explain gay sex. He eventually settled for a larger version of the male picture he already had with a frontal view, a side view, and a back view as well as a close-up diagram of the male genitalia. As Bruce settled in to explain, Superboy spoke.

“Thanks for this, Bruce.”

He reached over and clapped the kid on the shoulder with a slight grin. “No problem, kid.”

* * *

**Mount Justice, November 23, 2010**

“So I gather that the Team reported back.” Black Canary walked up behind him while he was inputting the data into the computer.

“I take it you saw the news.” Batman smirked. Miss Martian’s portrayal of Queen Bee was not convincing to those who had met the woman. “The mission was eventful.”

The blonde stood beside him and watched the man transfer file after file to folders and put those in folders and send them and start again. “How so?”

“Well, the Team found out about Hello Megan. They confronted Miss Martian and they’re under the impression that her true form is her with no hair. Miss Martian gave a young boy a blood transfusion. I gave his mother my number to call if anything happens to him. The Team saved Qurac and found out that Bialya has been using Apocalyptian weaponry. Also, Miss Martian took on Psimon, who has been turned into a vegetable. I imagine he found something about her true self during their battle and taunted her about it. Either way, he’s not dead or causing trouble and that’s all that matters.”

“And Robin?”

“Robin is not yet back to his usual self but he is more confidant.”

“Which is why you sent Aqualad to Atlantis for a couple days.”

Batman shook his head. “I did want Robin to lead this mission but Aqualad had not been to Atlantis in weeks. That means he hasn’t trained with Aquaman or Queen Mera in weeks. I think he may have gone as far as he can under Aquaman’s guidance but he can learn a lot from his Queen. I sent him down with orders to learn how to defend against most common sorcery.”

Black Canary nodded and moved to lean on the terminal. “We both know this wasn’t an easy mission. Don’t you think Robin would have benefited from easing him into leading again?”

Batman shook his head as he set to transfer maps and data from the cave computers to his glove so he could store it in the Batcave. “No. When I began training Robin, when he was nine, I never once eased him into anything the way you’re thinking. He knew going in that he wasn’t being trained to take down some hired thugs, he was being trained to take down Harley Quinn, the Scarecrow, the Joker. Bats don’t do baby steps.”

Canary had to laugh at the ridiculous sentence. “Well, on that bright note, I have something to discuss with you.”

The Dark Knight closed out his files and put the terminal in sleep mode as if on autopilot. “Am I in trouble?” His lips twitched.

Did Batman just blatantly joke? She shook her head with a smile. “I broke up with Oliver yesterday.”

Batman turned to her and gave her his full attention. “Oh.” He said. What do you say to that? Congratulations? Sorry? About time?

She laughed. “I’ve been trying to break up with him for weeks and I suppose he knew it because he was avoiding me.” She looked at the masked man in front of her. “Since August I’ve found myself comparing him to someone else and he just doesn’t measure up. Neither of us was truly happy in that relationship and I’m relieved I’ve finally ended it.”

Batman tilted his head. “Not that I’m not happy that you’re happy,” He paused at the terrible string of words he’d just said, “But why are you telling me? Isn’t this girl talk?”

She laughed at him again. “It is and I’ll tell the girls, but I figured that I’d tell you first since you’ve been helping me out with my relationship problems. You seemed to know when I was upset so I thought you deserved to know that all your advice resulted in something.” She glanced away. “I also have to ask you something.” He nodded for her to go ahead. “Well, Oliver wasn’t exactly happy with the breakup. He’s been following me around begging me to reconsider. It’s not only annoying but it’s getting in the way of my life. If the offer’s still open, I could use some space. He’d never come to Gotham with your ban in place.” She grinned at him crookedly.

He blinked. He never thought she’d actually accept his offer. He was pleased nevertheless. “Of course the offer’s still open. Do you want to stay in your room or the penthouse?”

“I know the manor has Alfred, whose cooking doesn’t get the appreciation it deserves. If it’s alright, I’d like to stay there. What will Robin think? Would he be uncomfortable with me there?”

Batman shook his head. “Robin is a thirteen-year-old boy. He spends the majority of his time here with the Team, at Flash’s or Wally’s house, or on patrol. If he’s at the manor he’s usually in his room, the gym, the Batcave, or bothering Alfred. He probably won’t even notice you’re there.” He smiled at her out of view of the cameras. “You’re welcome anytime.”

She smiled back. “How about after the meeting at the Watchtower in two days? It’ll give me a chance to pack some stuff and we can go back together.” She hoped she wasn’t being too forward with this. “How long can I stay?”

“As long as you need.”

* * *

**The Watchtower, November 25, 2010**

Batman, Wonder Woman and Superman stood outside the conference room of the Watchtower, looking upon the Earth. Wonder Woman broke the silence. “Times like these one feels the very weight of the world upon us.”

They all turned when they heard Aquaman approach. “Everyone is here.”

They followed him to the conference room to see the Justice League assembled. Flash, both Green Lanterns, Red Tornado, Captain Marvel, Captain Atom, Green Arrow, Black Canary, Martian Manhunter, Doctor Fate, Hawkwoman, and Hawkman. Aquaman spoke. “Our agenda is clear. What’s at stake should not be underestimated.”

Superman followed him. “The decisions we make today will reverberate for years to come.”

Wonder Woman agreed. “And influence whether or not the world continues to put their trust in the Justice League.”

Batman agreed but had refused to make an introductory statement like the others. “Please take your seats. We have work to do.”

When they were all seated, Martian Manhunter was the first to speak. “Another expansion of the League could generate another escalation of hostilities from our enemies. No one wants or needs another Injustice League.”

“Point Taken.” Superman responded. “But the option remains to vote no on all candidates. So I nominate Icon for League membership.”

The holo-projector in the center of the table showed an image of the man.

Batman had worked with the man. He was competent and worked well with the others. It was similar to fighting with Superman.

“Why? Because you suspect Icon might be Kryptonian like you did with Captain Marvel?” Green Arrow snarked.

Captain Marvel beamed. “You thought I was Kryptonian? Cool!”

Superman looked embarrassed. Wonder Woman set her hand on his forearm. “Icon interests me also.” She said it like she was comforting him. “As does his protégé, Rocket.” This time she spoke to the room at large. “Athena knows the League could use more female members.”

Black Canary and Hawkwoman enthusiastically agreed. Captain Marvel seemed to notice for the first time that the League was composed of mostly men. Batman had no opinion one way or the other. Yes, the League was mostly men but not because they were sexist. The women they brought in had to be just as good as the men and able to hold their own. They had to follow League rules and want to help people. They also had to have at least a year of experience. They’d had female members in the past but many women wanted families and took a break from the League.

He put forward his suggestion. “I nominate the Atom.” He brought up the image. The Atom was extremely useful in infiltration and information reconnaissance. The man was also a molecular physicist and the League needed more brains and logic.

Captain Marvel scoffed. “Seriously? The Atom? How useful could he be at that size?”

“It’s the size that makes him useful.” Batman corrected. Case in point. Most Leaguers were fairly large, befitting their strength for the most part. Some missions called for someone smaller, able to go unnoticed.

“Absolutely.” Flash agreed. “Still, we could always use more raw power. And Earth has a third Green Lantern – Guy Gardner.” He brought up the image.

Both of the present Lanterns glared at him and chorused, “No.”

Flash blinked. “But we could really-“

“No.” They repeated.

Batman couldn’t blame them. Gardner was unwilling to work with the other two Earth Lanterns and often paraded around announcing that he was the ‘best Lantern’. In Batman’s opinion, Gardner hadn’t proved himself the way John or Hal had so his claims were completely ridiculous. Presently, he wasn’t ready.

Hawkman had nominated Blue Devil but that idea was quickly shot down. Batman had no opinion on the hero; they’d never worked together. That alone usually meant he wasn’t going to be invited to join. How could you work with someone so closely all of a sudden when you’d never seen them in action?

Green Arrow wasted no time replacing Blue Devil’s image with that of his former protégé. “If we’re considering Blue Devil, then I nominate Red Arrow.”

Batman heard Black Canary make a low irritated sound across the table.

“Roy has more experience, and he’s no kid anymore. He’s 18. A legal adult. He’s ready.”

Batman didn’t doubt the information. He knew Dinah worried about Red Arrow so he’d kept tabs on him. He did good solo work, as he had been for years. His teamwork had always been good, but he felt that his mentor had betrayed him. He didn’t want to work with Green Arrow for obvious reasons, and he wanted to prove himself on his own merits outside of the Team. Batman would vote to invite him. Though he knew Green Arrow hadn’t spoken to Roy in months and hadn’t been keeping an eye on him. The man had no way of knowing if the teenager was ready to join the League or not.

Aquaman apparently had his own doubts. “Is he? Red Arrow has been uncooperative and disrespectful. If we reward that behavior, what message does that send to the rest of the Team?”

Batman thought that was ridiculous. He himself was not particularly cooperative or respectful. Such things had no bearing on how well you did your job. Then the last bit of Aquaman’s argument sunk in. He wasn’t the only one annoyed. Dinah spoke up while Batman just stared at the man. How could he not know who was on the Team? “Actually, Arthur, Red Arrow is not, nor has he ever been, a member of the Team. He has contacted myself for backup and the Team has been sent to assist or vice versa, but he has been working on his own and doing a damn good job.”

“Agreed.” Batman spoke up. “Everyone here has worked with Red Arrow. We know how he works and he’s good at what he does. If he is an example to anyone it’s Robin, Aqualad, and Kid Flash, the other young heroes we wronged by not trusting them after years of teamwork. He is no such example to the newer members of the Team, just a young hero being rewarded for doing good work.” Dinah smiled at him and he nodded back. She saw Red Arrow as a younger brother and he had no trouble backing her up when she was right.

Superman made his opinion clear. “No. Red Arrow may be 18, but the rest of the Team is too young. We’re not inducting children into the League.”

Batman mirrored Dinah’s frown when Superman spoke as if Red Arrow was a member of the Team. Black Canary had just corrected Aquaman on the matter, hadn’t he been listening?

Dr. Fate replaced Red Arrow’s image with his own choices. “That seals my offer. I have been one with Kid Flash and Aqualad. Both are ready.”

“And what of Zatanna?” Wonder Woman baited.

“Absolutely not!”

“That sounded almost protective, Doctor. At least we know Zatara’s still in that helmet somewhere.” She smirked.

Captain Marvel stood. “Why is Dr. Fate still a member? You coerced Zatara into giving up his life to you or else lose his daughter instead. Not cool.”

Red Tornado brought up the immortal’s image. “Should such behavior be condoned?”

The man himself answered. “Zatara desires Dr. Fate remain in the League. It is true.” He answered Green Arrow’s scoff. “Zatara’s trust in Nabu is measured. He desires the League to remain a close watch upon us.”

Batman rolled his eyes behind the cowl. They weren’t here for these politics. Debating the dismissal of a League member was a separate affair than voting for perspective members. He didn’t understand why someone felt the need to stir up trouble where there was none every year.

Dinah nominated her own choice and brought up his image. “I think it’s about time we invited someone who’s been working with us faithfully for years.”

Batman nodded. “Plastic Man.”

Captain Marvel stifled his laughter.

Flash leaned forward. “I don’t know. The guy’s got a pretty substantial criminal record.”

Captain Marvel laughed out loud. “Sorry, sorry. The guy just cracks me up.” He looked up to see everyone watching him.

Flash sighed. “Maybe it’s time we all talked about the elephant in the room. Should Captain Marvel stay a member now that we know he’s really only 10 years old?”

Red Tornado spoke in the hero’s favor. “He does possess an adult body and the wisdom of Solomon.”

“Wisdom does not equal maturity.” Aquaman argued.

Captain Marvel protested the entire discussion. “Hey, I’m sitting right here.”

Dinah leaned forward. “Then Billy, maybe you should leave until we’ve hashed this out.”

Batman knew she was only trying to spare the boy’s feelings. “No. Captain Marvel is a member and is entitled to participate until or unless he’s voted out.” He didn’t think she realized that her words would sound like a kindly worded order to the Captain.

“It’s not just his age.” Wonder Woman protested. “It’s the fact that he lied about it.”

“I didn’t lie. Exactly. I just left out the part about being a kid.”

“A lie of omission is still a lie. You kept an important secret from us. No one in the League knew the truth.”

“I did.” Batman interrupted Wonder Woman’s lecture.

“So did I.” Black Canary seconded.

“Dinah?” Wonder Woman was flabbergasted. “How did you find out?”

The blonde narrowed her eyes. She’d never given Wonder Woman permission to use her name. “Batman told me.”

This seemed to incense the Princess further. She turned on the Dark Knight like a savage dog. “I shouldn’t be surprised since you indoctrinated Robin into crime fighting at the ripe old age of nine.”

Batman’s eyes tightened. He remembered a frightened little boy crawling into his bed in the early hours of the morning after nightmares of snapping ropes and falling bodies. “Robin needed to help bring the men who murdered his family to justice.”

“So he could turn out like you?” The woman accused.

He fondly recalled a week ago, Robin had invited Wally over for a weekend. The boys had slept late, did their stretches and exercises, gathered a smorgasbord of junk food and holed themselves up in the rec room with two game systems and two televisions so they could play a series of video games. Batman had even tried his hand at a few after some observation. The boys had been planning for months to play all the new releases for a few hours each to determine which order they wanted to play them in. He remembered all the cases scattered all over the room: Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood, Red Dead Redemption, Fallout: New Vegas, Call of Duty: Black Ops, Mass Effect 2, Alan Wake, Just Cause 2, Aliens vs. Predator, Bioshock 2, Dante’s Inferno, Darksiders, God of War III, Army of Two: The 40th Day, and Lego Harry Potter: Years 1-4. He’d joined them for Assassin’s Creed, Alan Wake, and Bioshock. He’d never done any of that when he was younger because he was too caught up in getting his revenge on the man that killed his parents. He’d helped Robin so he could go down a different path. “So that he wouldn’t.”

“Diana!” Black Canary grabbed the woman’s arm in defense of her friend. “You’re way out of line. Unlike me, you’ve never even talked to Robin about this. He wants to be here, he’s happy. Before you start accusing your coworkers left and right, gather your facts.” She released the now cowed woman’s arm with a scowl.

Martian Manhunter broke the awkward silence. “You seem to have reached a consensus that 18 years is a suitable minimum age for joining the League. Yet what of Miss Martian? Though she is still a biological adolescent by Martian standards, she was born 48 Earth years ago.”

“So what is the deciding factor, chronology or biology?” Red Tornado asked. “Take Superboy.”

“Exactly.” Black Canary agreed. “He’s less than a year old. Does he have to wait 17 more to stand beside us?” She saw Wonder Woman glance at Superman. She didn’t even have to look to know that he wouldn’t look at the image of his clone. She didn’t care; she knew she’d made her point.

Superman rose from his seat, followed by Batman and Wonder Woman. “No other ideas?” Nobody spoke. “Then here are our candidates for new or continued membership.” Holo-images of everyone mentioned that day appeared along the walls.

Batman continued. “We’ve debated origin, gender, size, experience, age, temperament, and background. But what is the fundamental criterion for membership?”

Wonder Woman was the last to speak. “When all is said and done, the question must be, who do we trust, trust to fight beside us, trust to have our backs, trust to uphold the high standards and ideals of the Justice League?”

“Time to vote.” Batman commanded.

A half hour later found Batman waiting outside the doors of the room. Superman and Green Arrow came out of the room. “Batman,” said the Man of Steel. “I’m surprised you’re still here. Usually you slink off the moment a meeting is adjourned. Why the change?”

“I’m waiting for someone.”

Black Canary left the room and joined the group. “Thanks for waiting, I was delayed apologizing to Wonder Woman. I brought my bag so I’m ready.” She patted the duffel on her shoulder. “Are we good to go?”

Batman saw Green Arrow open his mouth and absolutely delighted in cutting him off and decimating any illusions the man may have had that Dinah was talking to him. “Of course.” He motioned her to walk at his side toward the zeta tubes. “I’m glad you agreed to spend the night. I’m sure you won’t need anything in that bag.”

She smirked and played along. “Oh really? You better follow through with that promise.” She winked. “And I’ll be expecting breakfast in the morning.”

With that they zetaed together to Gotham and Dinah immediately erupted in laughter at the memory of Green Arrow’s face.

* * *

**Gotham, December 6, 2010**

“Morning.” She sipped her coffee as the master of the house came down the stairs.

“Morning, Dinah.” Bruce sat at the table as Alfred set a plate of breakfast in front of him. “Did you see the report I left out for you?”

“I did.” She finished her coffee. “Aqualad’s reports are so concise.” She sighed in appreciation. “The mission though, what a nightmare. And we both know who’s behind the whole mess.”

Batman paused with his fork halfway to his mouth. “You’re going back to Star City?”

“Right after breakfast.” She nodded. “Someone has to yell at Oliver for sending Roy to the Team for no apparent reason, and someone has to yell at Roy for causing all that distrust and tension. Other than that, I should probably get out of your hair.” She laughed. “I’m still shocked that Robin hasn’t found out I’ve been here.” She honestly was. She’d left him a birthday present with Alfred and he still hadn’t clued in.

Bruce shook his head. “I’m not. He lets his guard down in the manor. And he’s spent a lot of time in the Batcave lately.”

She smiled at him. “Either way, thanks for having me. It was nice, and I’m going to miss Alfred’s cooking.”

Bruce finished eating. “Just because you’re going back home doesn’t mean you can’t visit.” Moments later the two of them were on their way out to the car. They made small talk as he drove her to the zeta tubes and they shared a friendly hug when she got out of the car. As she was walking to the tubes, Bruce grabbed her hand. “Dinah, you can always visit if you need to get away. I’m not rescinding your open invitation. I mean it. You’re always welcome in Gotham.” He hesitated. “You’re always welcome at the manor.” Slowly, so she had time to pull away, he leaned down and kissed her cheek. “Take care of yourself in Star City.” He walked back to the car and got in. He didn’t look up until she was already gone.

He hadn’t seen her blush or touch her cheek with a tender smile.

* * *

**Mount Justice, December 24, 2010**

Batman wandered into Black Canary’s office. He saw her writing away in Robin’s file. “Penny for your thoughts?”

She didn’t even look up. “I hope you weren’t trying to sneak up on me, Bats.” She grinned. “Give me a minute to finish this.”

He sat in his usual seat. “Is that from Robin’s latest visit?”

She nodded and kept writing. “Yeah. I’m so happy the mission was a success. It meant a lot to him.”

“The unsanctioned mission.” He grumbled.

Canary’s lips twitched. The man acted as if he hadn’t known what was going on the entire time.

He waited patiently for her to finish writing.

She finally set down her pen and closed the file. “Okay, what is it?” She’d become much more comfortable around him after living with him for over a week.

He cleared his throat. “I need a favor.”

She waited.

“There’s a Christmas party tonight and I’ve been invited. I wasn’t going to go to the party but lately I’ve been hounded by reporters. They’ve been asking about my new blonde girlfriend. Some of the Gothamites want to meet her too. The papers will come up with all sorts of stories if I don’t make an appearance and they’ll have a field day if I show up without you.”

Dinah raised an eyebrow. “Bats, did you just ask me to go to a party with you? If you did, you handled it poorly. I’m almost offended. God forbid you be forced to be seen with me in public.” She’d tried for a joking tone. She’d failed. She sounded annoyed.

Batman’s eyes widened. He’d really put his foot in his mouth. “Sorry. I meant to ask if you would accompany me to the party tonight as my date. I know it’s late notice so let me handle everything. The dress will be in your room at the manor.” He watched her unimpressed face for any reaction. “Please say yes or we’ll have to break up.”

She had to laugh at the slight pleading note in his voice. “Okay, I’ll be there.”

He grinned at her. “Thanks. Can you be at the manor by 6:30? The party starts at 7.”

She got up and headed out the door. She had a spar with Superboy scheduled. “Alright, but the dress had better be worth it.”

* * *

**Gotham, December 24, 2010**

Bruce watched his ‘girlfriend’ mingle with Gotham’s elite while he took a breather by the stairs. The pair had gotten all sorts of looks as they’d entered the party. Bruce always got looks, a handsome billionaire dressed to impress, but this year he had Dinah on his arm. He’d picked her up from the zeta-tubes and she’d run straight to her room. Half an hour later, she’d come back downstairs with her dress and shoes on, her makeup done, her hair in a fancy bun (“It’s a Gibson Tuck, Bruce.”), and her nails painted. She looked like she fit right into this world. The simple, elegant blue dress he’d bought her fit her perfectly. She was smiling, and chatting with everyone who approached her, sending him looks when nobody was looking.

He was abruptly dragged back to Earth by the daughter of an old friend of his father’s. “Bruce, it’s been ages.” The redheaded woman dressed in black sauntered over to him.

“Katharine, lovely as always.” He kissed her hand. Kate Kane had spent many days at Wayne Enterprises with him when they were children. They had always gotten along even though she was a few years younger than him.

The spirited redhead laughed at him. “None of that, you’ll cause a bigger scandal than you already have. Nobody thought you would bring a date, let alone the woman from the papers. Half of the older women are saying she’s an escort.”

He sighed. This was why he didn’t go to these things often. Bruce Wayne steps through the door and he’s the focus of all the gossip. “She has a name, and she’s not an escort.”

An elegant red brow rose at his words. “You know this one’s name? And that tone? You actually care about her!” She laughed gleefully. “So the papers were right and she’s your girlfriend? Oh, Brucie, you haven’t introduced me to a girlfriend yet!” The redhead smirked. “Let’s go say hello.” She promptly hooked her arm around his elbow and guided him over to the woman he’d arrived with. He resigned himself to this type of behavior. In the past couple years he’d curbed his Brucie Wayne persona a bit. The gossip column seemed to put it up to him putting down the bottle and adopting a child. Everyone seemed to believe it so he’d left well enough alone. The persona was still readily available if he needed it though. All he had to do was have a drink in his hand and nobody would blink an eye if he were suddenly a womanizing idiot. At events like these, Brucie was expected so he had to modify his behavior to a blend of himself and Brucie.

“Dinah, darling.” He got her attention and she excused herself from her conversation with the mayor’s wife. “I’d like you to meet Katharine Kane, an old friend. Katharine, this is Dinah Lance.”

The redhead extended her hand for Dinah to shake. “Kate, please. Bruce is the only one who calls me Katharine anymore.”

He wondered what Dinah thought of the woman. Whatever her opinion, it didn’t show on her face. “It’s a pleasure to meet you, Kate. I always enjoy meeting Bruce’s friends.” The woman was full of lies. He was sure that she thought he didn’t have any friends.

“Likewise.” As any young woman raised among Gotham’s elite, Kate had learned the art of gossip mongering at a young age, and she wasn’t subtle. “So what does Bruce Wayne’s girlfriend do with her time, other than Bruce Wayne?”

Dinah just blinked before she smiled. Bruce knew she was probably tired of all the politics and flowery language. Kate could be like a breath of fresh air at these parties. “I actually live in Star City. I’m a florist there, I own ‘Laurel’.”

He hadn’t known she’d owned the place. He knew her mother worked there often but he’d simply thought the store a family business.

“Oh that fancy little flower shop! I’ve seen your arrangements, they’re lovely.” Dinah thanked her and Kate continued, “How did you meet Bruce if you’re from Star? He doesn’t go there often.”

Yeah, because he didn’t want to deal with Arrow more often than he had to.

Dinah smiled. “I’m actually from here, my parents moved us to Star when I was young. Bruce and I met through some mutual friends.”

Kate hadn’t really listened. She’d been staring at Dinah’s toned arms. “How does a florist get arms like those? Can you introduce me to your trainer?”

Dinah laughed uncomfortably. “I’m sorry to say the man who taught me self-defense no longer takes students. I decided to use my skills to help others. I teach self-defense in my spare time.”

Bruce decided it was time for a break from Kate. The woman was very good at getting information out of people and Dinah’s solid cover was turning into thinly-veiled truths. “Kate, I hate to interrupt but Dinah has promised me a dance, and this is the first time we’ve both been free all evening.”

It was true. They’d both been swarmed by nosy mothers and admirers moments after arriving.

Bruce took Dinah’s deceptively strong hand in his and guided her to the floor where he began a slow, intimate waltz. Their hands were intertwined and their bodies were close. His hand cradled her waist, hers rested on his chest. “I’m sorry about all that. I didn’t think they’d trouble you like they have.”

She rested her head on his shoulder as they swayed to the music. “It’s alright. At least now they might lay off about your new girlfriend.”

He glanced up, knowing he’d been looking at her with a more tender expression than anyone here had ever seen on his face. Many of the older women were looking at them with critical eyes as if trying to determine how serious the couple was. He also saw a couple of young reporters appraising them. “Perhaps.” He spun her so he didn’t have to see them. “Whether they do or not, I thank you for doing this. I know you must have had something better to do on Christmas Eve.”

She laughed softly. “Sadly, I didn’t. I don’t really want to see Oliver right now, and Roy plans to spend Christmas heroing. My parents went on vacation, so the most I would’ve done is drink some eggnog and watch Home Alone.” She leaned back to smile at him. “So thank you, for giving me someone to spend Christmas Eve with.” She lay her head back on his shoulder. “I left your gift in your room.” She let him know.

He smiled at her and spoke lowly into her ear. “It seems we think alike. Yours is in your office in the Cave.”

She laughed again. He enjoyed how at-ease she was around him. “Will you be at the Cave for Christmas dinner with the Team tomorrow, Bruce?”

He hadn’t really planned ahead that far. He’d given Alfred some time to visit his family so he’d been eating sandwiches and premade casseroles for the last couple days. “I hadn’t planned on it, but I could.” At least then, Dick could spend Christmas with his him _and_ his friends.

“Well you can be my date to that, then. Maybe if we’re lucky, Artemis will tell Oliver about it and I’ll get to see him huffing around in outrage.” She snorted and he had to laugh at her.

“Maybe she will.”

They danced in silence until the clock struck one and made their leave. The pair collected their coats and Bruce’s car and started toward the zeta tubes. Bruce got out to open Dinah’s door and the blonde gazed up at him as she accepted his hand to help her out. She smiled up at him, still pleasantly surprised and honored that he’d told her his identity. “Merry Christmas, Bruce.”

He smiled and leaned down to kiss her forehead. “Merry Christmas, Dinah.”

* * *

**Mount Justice, December 25, 2010**

“Batman 02. Black Canary 13.”

The teens in the room looked up as the Team mentors arrived together via zeta-tube. Aqualad looked to Superboy. The two were sparring. After a moment, both of them nodded to the Leaguers.

Aqualad smiled. “Black Canary, we’re glad you could make it. We were unaware that Batman was coming. Is there a mission?”

Dinah smiled back at the two. “No, I invited him, Batman is here to celebrate with us.”

The Dark Knight nodded and saw a pleased look cross Aqualad’s face and Superboy grinned at him. “Merry Christmas, Kaldur, Connor.”

Superboy and Aqualad chorused it back at them. “Come, the others are in the kitchen.”

The Leaguers followed the teens into the kitchen to see organized chaos. They’d never been to the Cave for a meal before. Miss Martian used her telepathy to float things to her that she needed to cook. She didn’t touch anything. Zatanna used her magic to season and chop and boil things. She also didn’t touch anything. Kid Flash was making gravy; Rocket had set the table, and was now sitting, watching the others. Artemis was washing dishes and Robin came running in from the living room area. None of them were speaking.

“B! Merry Christmas!”

Batman didn’t flinch or stumble when Robin leapt onto his shoulders and balanced there. It was something he’d done with his parents when he was little and Batman was strong enough to let him continue the tradition.

Dinah smiled up at the youngest member of the Team. “Merry Christmas Robin, Merry Christmas everyone!”

The response was a round of greetings from everyone. There was a small dispute when Dinah insisted on helping but it was settled when Artemis delegated the washing to the other blonde as she went to sit with Rocket. Soon after that, Wally started singing Christmas carols. He persistently convinced everyone to join in. Artemis was shy about her voice, Miss Martian was ecstatic that they were participating in Earth traditions, Zatanna was nostalgic and missing her father, Rocket was happy enough, Robin was at the age where his voice cracked when he sang so he hummed instead, Superboy didn’t know any of the words but watched with a smile, Aqualad’s voice was low and soothing. None of the teens had expected the Leaguers to join them in their caroling.

They all stopped and stared as Dinah and Bruce joined in, the two starting a duet of ‘Come All Ye Faithful’. Superboy had known that Dinah liked to sing but hearing her voice as she washed the dishes was a pleasant experience. Batman stood beside her with his gloves off drying the dishes and also singing quietly. Who would have thought Batman’s voice could sound so beautiful? Dinah smiled at him as she turned to hand him a wet plate and she managed to spot his bat-smile.

Robin grinned as he watched them. He’d always wanted Bruce to be happy and the man looked happy when he was with the younger woman.

Superboy watched them with a fond smile. From what the genomorphs had taught him, he’d deduced they were like parents to him. He knew parents weren’t always together romantically but Batman and Canary seemed like they were.

It wasn’t long after that that the turkey was done. The Team, their trainer and their commander all sat down to a nice meal. Throughout the meal, the mentors could tell that the teens were communicating telepathically while also carrying on a conversation with them. At first, they all looked at Miss Martian and Zatanna and the two girls smiled. Dinah assumed they were thanking the two girls for the meal and she added her thanks aloud, followed by Batman. The Team made sure that the Leaguers were always part of a verbal conversation but it was obvious by the random laughs and facial expressions that there was another conversation happening simultaneously.

Batman and Black Canary watched this, also talking among themselves when the Team got particularly distracted. Batman was proud that all of them had gained the sort of mental acuity to be able to carry multiple conversations at once. Black Canary was in awe and slightly jealous of the bond the teens had. She was also curious how some of the more secretive teens such as Artemis and Robin were able to participate in the telepathic bond that she knew was incredibly invasive without revealing their secrets.

After a hearty dinner and a light trifle desert that Artemis and Wally had made, the Leaguers thanked the Team for the meal and the company and left them as the duo headed to Black Canary’s office.

The woman smiled as she opened the door. “Did you open your gift, Bruce?”

The man shook his head as he followed her into the room. He watched as she picked up the wrapped present on her desk. It was wrapped in a pretty gold paper and he’d wrapped it himself. “No, I wanted to open them together.”

Dinah laughed. “Then what are we waiting for. She dropped into one green chair with her gift on her lap while Batman did the same in his usual chair after retrieving the gift out from under his cape. “You go first, Bats.”

Batman proceeded to carefully but efficiently remove the red ribbon and the green and silver paper. It was obviously wrapped with care. Once it was unwrapped, he opened the box. Inside was a flash drive and a book on raising teenagers. He picked up the drive. “What’s this?”

Dinah grinned. “That is the most devious thing I’ve ever done. I got help from Alfred, and he directed me to Lucius Fox, and Felicity was happy to help.” She laughed. “Some things are so much easier when you’re Bruce Wayne’s girlfriend.” She smiled at him. “On that disc are photos and videos I managed to find of you and Robin. They’re all civilian-safe so you can keep it in your house.”

Bruce was speechless for a minute. He was simply so grateful. Nobody had ever done anything like this for him before. “Dinah… I can’t tell you how much this means to me. It’s a fantastic gift, thank you.”

She reached out to rest her hand on his knee for a moment. “You’re welcome.”

He cleared his throat. “Okay, your turn.”

She laughed at his discomfort. “Of course.” She was less careful with her unwrapping but no less efficient. Soon enough she held in her hand a small gun and a perfume bottle and an envelope were in her lap. She looked up at Batman for an explanation.

Batman bat-smiled at her. “One of those is work-related. The gun is a grapple gun. It’s smaller than mine so it doesn’t have as much cable but if you ever need to chase someone over rooftops or if you fall from one, its there.”

She was shocked. He’d given her some of his own technology? He didn’t do that for anyone except Robin.

He pointed to the bottle and the envelope. “The envelope is from Alfred. Inside are three recipes he’s noticed you enjoy. The perfume is from me. You mentioned you were running low and the one you wore was no longer in production. I had one made. Your favorite was analyzed and there are some other smells in there like your favorite flowers. I hope you like it.”

She turned the bottle in her hands. It was a small round bottle with a simple matte black finish. As she turned it she saw the image of a tiny yellow bird sitting on a laurel wreath. The name of the perfume was in glittering gold on the bottle – Canary.

Dinah looked up at the man she’d been comparing Oliver to since August. “You made me a perfume?” She quickly sprayed herself with it and smiled. It smelled similar to her old one but better. It smelled like her shop and her perfume and fresh air and something sultry. She loved it.

Batman shifted nervously. “It tested well with some employees I got the opinions of.”

He thought she didn’t like it? She carefully put the presents down and moved to his chair to hug him. “Thank you so much, Bruce.” She whispered. “I love the gun and the perfume, and thank Alfred for me.” She felt the man bury his head into her hair. She felt the smile he hid from everyone.

“You’re welcome.”

* * *

**Hall of Justice, December 30, 2010**

Dinah stood near the end of the line of the League members on Superman’s right hand side as the man gave a speech at the induction ceremony for the new Leaguers. She didn’t envy Batman’s position beside the Man of Steel. He was directly in the spotlight. She, near the end of the line, had just slightly more freedom to fidget. She smiled as Superman turned the crowd’s attention to the guests of honor.

Doctor Fate had been voted in. The previous Doctor Fate had been a member of the Justice League years before but had retired to the Justice Society of America. With a new host, the Doctor was once again offered membership and had accepted. Others like the Atom and Plastic Man were glad to be offered the invitation and only too happy to accept. The two heroes had been working faithfully with the League for years but had never been invited. It was far passed time for them to join. Icon was well respected in the hero community and Superman’s nominations were always offered membership. Red Arrow was standing tall and proud as he achieved the ambition he’d had since joining Green Arrow.

She couldn’t help but be overjoyed on behalf of the young man. He’d strived for this and he deserved it. He was respectful to other heroes, worked well with most anyone, was damn good at what he did, and she was just so happy for him. Glancing over at Batman, she thought she saw a tiny bat-smirk of pride on his face too.

As the membership cards we handed out to the new members, her thoughts drifted to the Team who were waiting inside the Hall to celebrate. A downside of being a covert team was staying out of important televised League business. Wally was likely spilling all sorts of secrets to Rocket, as he had been since she’d joined them. Poor Zatanna had to watch Doctor Fate in her father’s body accept a position that her father could have held. Robin was likely offering comfort to his friend and crush. Rocket was no doubt annoyed at having to remain out of sight. The girl was fiery and bold and was still getting used to working in a team setting rather than as a partner to Icon. Regardless, she was sure they were enjoying the show.

She was mildly annoyed as Oliver ‘welcomed his former protégé to this roster of heroes’. The gesture would’ve meant more coming from her, Batman, or even Superman. She rolled her eyes after the ceremony as Green Arrow was held back for questioning about working with Red Arrow. She wondered what he would say.

She smiled at Icon when the man spoke of Rocket’s temper inside the Hall of Justice. She, Batman, and Red Tornado were leading the new Leaguers to the zeta tubes for a tour of the Watchtower. Well, she would return to the Cave with the Team after the teens offered their congratulations to the heroes. As they walked into the interior of the Hall, she hardly heard Icon’s quip. She looked at the empty chairs and table, monitors in sleep mode, an empty room. Where had they gone?

Batman stalked up to the monitors and began pulling security footage from the past hour. She spotted Roy’s smile when he saw how happy Robin, Kid Flash and Aqualad were for him. Then Batman stopped the feed. She walked up beside him as he was typing.

“What’s wrong?”

The man didn’t look away from the screen, fingers flying over the keys. “Robin got a League Alert. I’m just looking for – there.”

She looked up and saw the Bat’s personal files. “What am I looking at?”

That got her a bat-smile that sent a surge of affection through her. “Robin hacked into the League’s systems in order to reprioritize the alert we had on Cheshire’s location. He arranged to get the alert first. I expect they responded immediately.”

She followed that, but… “How do you know all this?”

“Robin left the alert in the system, inactive. He did a sloppy job at covering his tracks so he wanted me to find him. He’s an accomplished hacker. If he hadn’t wanted me to find him then I wouldn’t have.”

So he’d left a note.

She sighed and turned to face everyone else. “We’ll just continue onto the tour of the Watchtower and meet up with the Team later. Follow me.” She led the way to the zeta tubes and buried her worries about the Team. They would be fine.

She glanced at the quietly annoyed Dark Knight. Until Batman got hold of them.

It was hours later when the Bioship docked at the Cave. She was waiting with Batman when the teens all walked into the reception and debrief area. For five minutes, Batman glowered at them but only Rocket had averted her gaze. Only then did he speak. “Tell me if this sounds familiar. You hacked League systems, disobeyed protocol and endangered your lives. And your initiative resulted in the capture of three escaped felons proving Warden Strange runs Belrev as a cover for criminal activity.” He paused. “Well done.”

The Team all grinned at each other.

Icon spoke up. “And then there’s this.” He picked up one of the pink chips that had been in the retrieved case. “Biotechnology integrated with some form of nano-circuitry. Though I am unfamiliar with this species the bio component is clearly not of this Earth.” He replaced the chip.

Batman closed the case. “We’ll take it to the Watchtower for further study.”

As Rocket ran to congratulate her mentor, Robin got Black Canary’s attention. “Hey BC, Supes flew today.” He grinned at her, knowing she would be happy for the boy as his mentor.

She really wanted to but she wondered at the timing. According to Batman, Superboy shouldn’t be able to fly yet. Regardless, she smiled and hugged Connor but the boy seemed uneasy. She made a mental note to tell Batman about the entire thing. With a wave she gathered Icon and they headed to the induction party.

A party where she’d be confined to a few rooms with Green Arrow. The man still hadn’t stopped pestering her. He seemed to think she’d been cheating on him. She supposed he wasn’t wrong. She’d left their relationship emotionally long before they broke up. She wasn’t sure when she’d stopped seeing Batman as a colleague but she knew the man was a beloved friend of hers and he was making her feel things she’d never felt with Oliver. She let her hand drift to the grappling gun in it’s holster on her thigh and smiled.

Perhaps she’d stick close to him tonight.

She smiled at everyone already at the Watchtower when they arrived. Batman headed off to test the new biotech alone. She watched him go and told herself she’d drag him out into the party if he wasn’t done in an hour.

Roy walked up beside her and she beamed. “I don’t think I’ve congratulated you yet, Red Arrow.”

He smirked that devilishly charming smirk of his. “You haven’t.”

“Well congratulations on making it to the League.” She laughed.

He drew her into a brotherly hug. “You deserve some of the credit for all the patience you had when I was younger, training me and helping me with my anger and supporting me.”

She felt his hand on the back of her neck.

“Thank you, Dinah.”

Her eyes flew wide open as a shock jolted through her body.

* * *

**The Watchtower, December 31, 2010**

“Recognized, Black Canary, 1-3. Red Tornado, 1-6. Red Arrow 2-1.”

“Any problems?”

She faced the man who’d tried to take their lives from them. “Despite an initial setback I was able to re-infect Red Tornado and Red Arrow.”

“As well as the entire team.” Red Tornado added. “They await re-programming back on Earth.”

Vandal Savage just looked at them. “I think not. You see, ‘Starotech’ does not reprogram the mind; it offers us remote control of it.”

Klarion had called their bluff, they’d been restrained, and the Starotech chips had been reapplied to them.

All according to plan.

Dinah knelt, bound and struggling, waiting for Vandal Savage to finish his speech after he’d ‘captured them. When she’d become aware of herself again, she was in the Supercycle in the bioship. Then the memories began to return. The League being controlled. Batman letting Vandal Savage and Klarion into the Watchtower. Attacking her kids. Then they went to Washington. The chip was reverse engineered and a cure was created. She’d been the first test subject. They’d untied her after she’d proved to Robin that she wasn’t being controlled anymore. He’d asked what he’d found in his bedroom on December 1st. She’d told him a Scott Pilgrim vs. the World DVD and some alien game she’d used her connections as Bruce Wayne’s ‘girlfriend’ to get before it released. A birthday present from her.

“The brats are aboard.” Klarion whined. “They’ve taken away four of my toys.”

“Recall all League away missions.” Vandal growled in response.

Away missions? Who was away? Where were they? Before she could think on it, her attention was diverted by Klarion.

“Shouldn’t those three be back online by now?”

“What?”

She let loose a supersonic scream, throwing Green Lantern into a wall. Red Tornado distracted Vandal while Roy ran to cure Green Lantern before he got up. She screamed at Klarion but he’d conjured earmuffs. Just then she found out who’d been away. She had time to scream before she was tackled by J’onn and thrown to the ground by an undercut to the chin from Hawkwoman. She hazily saw Batman put Roy down with a three-move combo before all she knew was black.

* * *

**The Batcave, January 2, 2011**

Batman watched the Watchtower’s security footage for a second time, this time focusing on the non-combat parts. He’d been extremely proud of Robin and Superboy for taking he and Superman down, especially considering Robin wasn’t even close to full-grown and Superboy hadn’t come into his powers yet. He’d just reached the part of the footage where Superman was speaking to Superboy when someone spoke behind him. He’d known she was there, of course. Only Alfred could sneak up on him.

“Do you ever stop working?”

He turned in his chair with his cowl hanging over his shoulders and bat-smiled. “You know I don’t.”

Dinah pointedly walked in front of his chair when he spun around and sat on the console of the Batcomputer. He glanced at her thighs where his hands had just been typing. He glanced at her breasts just above eye level. He looked up at her beautiful face. Had she sat there as an offering?

“We’ve got a lot of work ahead of us.” She spoke facing the monitor. She turned to face him when he spoke.

“Yes, we do. We have six Leaguers who were missing for sixteen hours, including myself. Red Arrow has been identified as a clone of Roy Harper, who is also missing and has been since he was kidnapped when he was fifteen. Red Arrow intends to go out on his own to look for Roy.” He sighed. “A lot of work.” He repeated.

“Oh, I was told that Superboy has all the powers of a full Kryptonian now so there’s that too.”

He groaned. “Lovely.”

“At least Superman acknowledged Superboy.” She shrugged.

“Yeah.” He snorted. “I talked to him about that. He’s accepted that Superboy is family. He won’t accept any responsibility for Superboy and I don’t want him to after how he’s treated the poor boy. I told him he is in no way fit to be Superboy’s mentor and as he said multiple times, Superboy is my responsibility and I’ve stopped telling Superman about him.” He realized his voice was louder than it should have been. “Sorry.”

The blonde shook her head. “Don’t apologize. I know how you feel about Superboy. I feel the same way if not stronger.” She reached out and gently caressed his cheek with her hand.

He looked up at her with a warning on his lips. “Dinah.”

“Bruce.” She smiled with affection in her eyes.

He swallowed. “What are you doing?” He let himself lean into her hand.

“You know, when I came back to myself when the team cured me. I only had two things on my mind.” She reflected, ignoring his question. “The first thing was our kids. I attacked them and they didn’t even hesitate to bring me down and I was just so proud of them and how far they’ve come. The second thing was you.” She shook her head with a short laugh at herself. “I was worried about you and I was desperately hoping that we’d both get out of that okay because I’d realized that I was thunderstruck in love with the goddamn Batman.”

He immediately grasped her by the waist and pulled her down to straddle him on the chair. With a hand in her hair he pulled her mouth to his and let out a satisfied groan as he kissed her with lips made of passion and want. He’d wanted her for weeks and eagerly crushed their lips together. With some of the tension relieved, he softened the kiss, slowed himself down, and created an embrace more intimate. He’d let this woman see passed his mask, see parts of himself hidden from everyone but family.

He had the woman he loved in his arms and he wanted to savor it.

Reluctantly he parted from her, needing to breathe. “Dinah, remember when you told me that nobody would want to date a twenty-four-year-old woman with six children?”

She hesitated. “Yes?”

“I want to date a twenty-four-year-old woman responsible for six children, ten children, however many children. The Team is as much mine as it is yours. Those children of yours are mine too. They’re all our children.”

There were tears in her eyes and a radiant smile on her face. “Bruce…”

He kissed her cheeks, her forehead, her nose, her chin, her jaw, her eyelids, her lips, and then just held her, reveling in the closeness of her. “I will want you unconditionally.”

As Dinah sat in the lap of the man she’d fallen hard for, safe in his embrace, she smiled. This was a man who would make a good lover, partner, father. This was a relationship she could see going somewhere.

And oh, how she wanted to see the places it went.


End file.
